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Khaleej Times
an hour ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
ILT20, KCB enter strategic partnership for growth of the sport in Kuwait
The DP World International League T20 and the Kuwait Cricket Board have entered an exciting partnership for the growth of the sport in Kuwait. Through the partnership the DP World ILT20 will organise cricket matches in the country which will be aimed at identifying and developing the participating players. The agreement between the Kuwait Cricket Board and DP World ILT20 was inked at a signing ceremony organised recently at the Dubai International Stadium. As per the agreement, a domestic event like the DP World ILT20 UAE Development Tournament, will be conducted annually in Kuwait to provide the players from Kuwait an opportunity to get selected by ILT20 franchises for the main DP World ILT20 event. In the coming years, the league will also aim to host DP World ILT2o matches in Kuwait. 'We are very proud to announce our collaboration with Kuwait Cricket Board as they join our league [DP World ILT20]. It is a great honour for us, and we look forward to many more such collaborations in the future. Kuwait is very important to us; it is a great country and keen on promoting and further developing cricket," said Khalid Al Zarooni, Chairman ILT20 and Vice-Chairman Emirates Cricket Board. 'Kuwait and the rest of the Gulf countries are all one, the [cricket playing] communities are residing throughout the region and our aim with the DP World ILT20 is to grow and develop the game in the entire region. Our endeavour is to provide maximum opportunities to the players and for the fans to join us at this great tournament which we are trying to grow more and more.' President Kuwait Cricket Haider Farman: 'I am honoured to formalise this agreement between Kuwait Cricket and the Emirates Cricket Board to further promote the DP World ILT20 — not only in our two nations but across the entire region. This partnership is a key pillar of the league's broader vision for the growth and globalisation of cricket. We firmly believe that cricket can serve as a powerful bridge between our countries, and we look forward to this collaboration bringing meaningful benefits to our players, coaches, and officials alike. 'It is also a matter of great pride that Kuwait becomes the first country in the world to be officially recognized as a strategic partner of the DP World ILT20. 'Cricket continues to grow in popularity in the State of Kuwait, with Kuwait Cricket making significant strides both on and off the field. This landmark collaboration with the Emirates Cricket Board and the ILT20 will play a critical role in helping us realize our long-term vision — to involve more Kuwaiti nationals in our cricketing ecosystem, especially as players and officials. 'With the Asian Games scheduled to take place in Qatar in 2030 and Saudi Arabia in 2034, the timing couldn't be better. DP World ILT20 can be a transformative force in inspiring the next generation of local talent to embrace the sport across the GCC like never before.' CEO DP World ILT20 David White: 'I would like to congratulate Kuwait Cricket on their vision and foresight that has led to this exciting alliance. The DP World ILT2o's long term vision is to grow the game not only in the UAE but across the Gulf region. 'This partnership provides a great opportunity for Kuwait Cricket and their young players to develop further. We have seen it in the DP World ILT20 how the young UAE players have benefited enormously through this incredible platform under some world-class coaching. 'The UAE team recently won a T20I series against Bangladesh which is indeed a testament to the success of the DP World ILT20 as a lot of the UAE team members had received great exposure at the league in recent years, surely Kuwait and other countries in the region are going to benefit as well.' Sajid Ashraf, Director General Kuwait Cricket. says the partnership will help the sport grow in Kuwait. 'This momentous collaboration with the Emirates Cricket Board — a true leader in regional cricket development and the driving force behind the world-class DP World ILT20 — marks a historic milestone for Kuwait Cricket. It opens the door to a long-awaited dream: enabling our Kuwait players to pursue full-time professional cricket careers on the international franchise stage," Ashraf said. Meanwhile, the DP World International League T20 Season 4 will begin on December 2, UAE National Day (Eid-Al-Etihad). The six-team, 34-match tournament will conclude with the final on January 4, 2026.
Times
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Times
Ben Stokes has lifted England as a leader — now they need the all-rounder
The ground was quiet at 8.45am on Thursday morning, save the thwack, thwack of ball on bat. In the nets, before the rest of the team had made their way on to the ground, was Ben Stokes, putting in a shift. England's captain has had precious little game time since tearing his hamstring in New Zealand in December, but the Tests will come thick and fast now, ten of them in the next seven months that will define his captaincy. There is no question that he has transformed the England team. In outlook and attitude it is totally different from the one he inherited, more assertive and confident in every way, but they still lack a significant scalp. This summer against India and the winter down under both provide that opportunity, which has been greeted with a subtle shift in language and emphasis. 'It's about winning,' Stokes said on the eve of the first Test at Headingley. To do that, Stokes will have to be at his best as a player. Because of his dominant personality and radical approach as a leader, we sometimes overlook the importance of his performances on the field, but it is time for him to remind everyone again what a good cricketer he is. The balance he brings to the team is crucial, and there is no one else in the country who can hold down that role as a top-six batsman and frontline bowler. It is two years since Stokes scored a Test hundred — a brilliant, swashbuckling Ashes century at Lord's in a losing cause. Since then he has been hindered by injuries which have limited his all-rounder duties and only once in the past year, in a scene-stealing performance against New Zealand in Wellington, has he taken more than two wickets in an innings. His build-up to this series has been as unorthodox as some of the fields he likes to set. Fit again in time for the Zimbabwe Test last month, Stokes then opted not to play in either of the Lions fixtures against India A after that, which means he has bowled 11 overs in competitive cricket and faced only 13 balls this calendar year. In answer to questions about whether he ought to have played for the Lions, he says defiantly that at 34 years old he knows his game and his own mind and that he is ready to go. The long-standing injury to his left knee and more recent hamstring tears had a knock-on effect on his bowling technique and he has used the recent weeks to make tweaks to his action, to get back to where it was around 2020, when he felt at his best as a bowler. He will be dissuaded from bowling those bone-shattering spells that send him into the 'red' (injury) zone, and he will look to bowl his overs in a more impactful way. He looked in eye-catchingly good rhythm against Zimbabwe. Great players tend to rise to the occasion, and only the Ashes is bigger than an India series for an England cricketer now — and this is, let's not forget, the start of a new World Test Championship cycle. While the bowling is bolstered by the return of Chris Woakes, who acts as something of a lucky charm for Bazball, having won ten of the dozen matches he has played under Stokes, England's strength is their batting. Expectations will fall this week on the home-town Headingley pair, Joe Root and Harry Brook, the latter getting a first opportunity in Tests against India, having missed the tour there in early 2024. England will come hard as they always do, as they did in that one-off Test at Edgbaston in 2022, when they chased 378 to win in only 76.4 overs. That is the template that they look towards in a post-Stuart Broad and James Anderson world. Hard, dry pitches that favour their aggressive batsmen. Even Jasprit Bumrah, who captained India in that game, was taken for more than four an over in the run chase, so he knows what the Bazball lash feels like. With a well-grassed pitch, a fast outfield and a forecast for increasingly hot temperatures, rapid scoring is on the cards again. That one-off game was a carry-over from the abandoned Test in the summer of 2021, pre-Stokes, but Bumrah, remember, was player of the series over those five matches, having taken 23 wickets in all. He remains unusual for an Indian bowler in that the vast majority of his Test wickets (158 wickets in 32 games, out of a total of 205 wickets in 45 matches) have been taken abroad. No bowler with more than 200 wickets has a lower average in Test cricket than him. Great fast bowlers elevate any contest, as Pat Cummins and Kagiso Rabada did in the World Test Championship final. With his stuttering run-up, hyperextended arm and unique action, which means he releases the ball a foot closer to the batsman than other bowlers, it will be a treat to watch Bumrah in action again, although whether England's batsmen feel the same way is doubtful. He remains the one capable of causing havoc, having dismissed Root nine times in 14 matches, Ollie Pope five times in nine and Zak Crawley four in seven. He has been pencilled in for three games, two of which presumably will be at the start of the series, given the lengthy break between the first two Tests. Things will be easier when he is not available. Shubman Gill, India's fifth-youngest Test captain, is lucky to have Bumrah and he will lean on his senior bowler, as well as Rishabh Pant, his vice-captain, who spoke very engagingly before the game. Without Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Ravichandran Ashwin, Gill leads a team in transition. How well he manages to hold his nerve if the ball starts flying all over will be important, and he wouldn't be the first captain to be unnerved by England's strategy. It would be quite the achievement if Gill could get one over Stokes in his first series in charge, one of the reasons why he said in the pre-match press conference that a victory here would top winning the IPL. India have only ever won three series in England — in 1971, 1986 and 2007 — and have only ever won one five-match series away from home. First Rothesay TestHeadingley. Starts Friday, 11amLive on Sky Sports Cricket England XI Z Crawley, B Duckett, O Pope, J Root, H Brook, B Stokes (c), J Smith (wk), C Woakes, B Carse, J Tongue, S Bashir
Khaleej Times
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Khaleej Times
1971 was the real resurgence of Indian cricket, not 1983, says Farokh Engineer
Farokh Engineer retired from cricket almost 50 years ago. But the legendary Indian wicketkeeper-batsman, who settled down in Manchester after marrying an Englishwoman, still talks about the game with the same vigour he displayed while playing those fearless hook shots against the world's fastest bowlers in the pre-helmet era. Engineer is hale and hearty at 87, having recently undergone a successful heart valve surgery. A Brylcreem model in his youth, he was India's first glamour boy, who also played a significant role in India's first-ever Test series on English soil in 1971. Engineer is now itching to get back to Old Trafford — home of Lancashire Cricket Club where he became one of the legends of county cricket — for the fourth match of the new-look Indian team's five-Test series against England. During an exclusive interview with Khaleej Times over Zoom, Engineer reminisced about his glory days and also opened up about his friendship with Pele and George Best. Q. Good to see you and you seem to be doing very well after the heart surgery… Yes, I am fine and alive. And now I can't wait to go to the Old Trafford for the India-England Test. Q. Lancashire holds a very special place in your heart. You won so many trophies with them… Yes, I'm now a vice president of the club, a lifelong vice president. And I'm also one of the legends of the club. They have selected only a few people as legends. You know, legend is a term that's very loosely used, but Lancashire have honoured me along with Clive Lloyd and others. So, we are not only vice presidents for life, but we are legends as well, and I am very proud of it because it's a great club and a great institution. Q. Well, you are also an Indian cricket legend. You became the darling of Indian cricket for your flamboyant style of cricket, both in front of the wicket and behind it as a keeper-batter I usually get youngsters telling me that their grandfathers used to talk about me because I'm almost 88 now. But it's always nice to know that people still remember me. Q. People who truly love cricket will never forget India's historic Test series wins in the West Indies and England in 1971. And you played a big role in the series win against England… Yes, I got important runs in that Test series. The first Test at Lord's, we should have won that match. I had a very interesting partnership with Sunil Gavaskar when we were chasing some 180-odd runs. But rains fell and we lost wickets. The third Test at The Oval, which we won, will always remain in my mind as one of the most historical moments in Indian cricket. You know people think that 1983 (World Cup triumph) was the renaissance of Indian cricket. But 1971 was the real resurgence of Indian cricket, not 1983. Of course, the 83 World Cup win was a great achievement. But if you ask me, the resurgence of Indian cricket was in 1971. Unfortunately, people have short memories, you see, people forget what's happened before. Q. Now today's youngsters who love Virat Kohli are probably not even aware of Viv Richards and Barry Richards, the South African legend who played only four Tests because of apartheid… I have not seen a better batsman than Viv Richards and Barry Richards. You know, Sachin Tendulkar was a great player. Brian Lara was fantastic, a phenomenal player. Sunil Gavaskar was a great opening batsman. But you mentioned those two names — Viv Richards and Barry Richards — they were just incredible. Yes, the world hasn't heard much about Barry because he was from South Africa and South Africa was isolated those days because of that apartheid. I played against Gordon Greenidge and Barry Richards. I mean, what a formidable opening partnership that was for Hampshire. But we had good cricketers (at Lancashire). We had Clive Lloyd with us. You know, he was my roommate for over 10 years. The standard of county cricket was very high. Do you know how we were invited? Only six cricketers were initially invited to England to play county cricket, Garry Sobers, myself, Rohan Kanhai, Mike Proctor and Barry Richards. All those were greats of the game, but you mentioned two names, Viv and Barry. Viv was absolutely phenomenal for me. I think he's the finest batsman I have ever seen or played against, because his reflexive was so quick. Barry wasn't far behind, our own Tendulkar was a great player too. But Viv was the best I have seen. Q. The purists of the game still rave about your hundred against the fearsome West Indies attack at Chennai in 1967. They still call it one of the best attacking innings in Test cricket… Yes, I almost scored a century before lunch against Wes Hall, Charlie Griffith and Garry Sobers. When they won the toss on a real green top, nobody (in the Indian team) wanted to open. We didn't have any helmets, no thigh pads, no chest pads, nothing. I mean, there was no protection at all. People now rave about today's fast bowlers, but those guys were really quick. And I hooked their bounces all over the place. I was 94 before lunch, and when (spinner) Lance Gibbs came on after lunch, I hit him out of the stadium. People joke that the ball is still travelling because they never found it. Q. Cricket is not the same sport you played back in the 1960s and 1970s. There was absolutely no money then, and now players earn millions of dollars for playing a two-month-long IPL. I remember a Test match against New Zealand. We're winning the game in four days. Those days we used to get 50 rupees per day for a Test match. If we had won the match in four days, we would have lost out on the 50 rupees for the fifth and the final day. So when we were nearing the victory target, all sorts of messages were coming from the dressing room. They wanted us to defend. And a loud cheer went on when we had two or three runs left to score the next day for 50 rupees each. Luckily, I was involved with the advertising people at Brylcreem. Denis Compton was the first person to model for Brylcreem, and he was a double International. He was a soccer international and a cricket international for England. Then there was Keith Miller, the flamboyant Australian all-rounder, fantastic legend, good-looking guy, and I was the third person. To be offered a contract by Brylcreem those days was like being on the cover page of Vogue magazine. Q. We also heard stories about your friendship with Pele and George Best... Pele became a very dear friend of mine. Gordon Banks invited him to England and we got talking that day. He was playing golf with Bobby Charlton the next day. I live just 100 yards from that golf course. And he asked me if there was a good hotel where he could stay. I just looked at my wife, and I said 'you can stay with us.' So he came and stayed over at our place. Now when we have guests at our house, I show them the bed where Pele slept. He was a wonderful man, he gave me his shirt and also signed it. And how did you become friends with Best? George came from (Northern) Ireland and I came from India. You know the Old Trafford cricket ground is only 100 yards away from the Manchester United football club. So there's a lot of connection with that and George just became friendly. He loved to eat curries, and so we just hit it off from the start. Q. Did you get to see the other side of him, his flamboyant lifestyle? We had a car crash when I was giving him a lift to the ground. There was a traffic light and George being George, put this window down and started talking to a blonde. I don't know if you knew her or not. So I took my eyes off and suddenly the car in front stopped and I hit it. When the police came, I said, 'I'm sorry'. And he was like 'you don't see many blondes in Bombay'. So we were that kind of friends. I got a lovely shirt from him, his boots as well. I've got them at home, I will never sell them. Q. Cricket may not have given you a lot of money, but it gave you you some amazing friends… When I meet my (cricket) contemporaries, we have a good laugh. I was with Viv Richards a couple of weeks ago, and we had a great time. He had come over to England for a trade show. You know even Dennis Lillee came over from Australia to play my benefit match in India. We are still close friends, even though I scored 192 against him and Jeff Thomson, not against Australia, but in a tour game in Brisbane. So, we have kept our friendship going, and I hope it keeps blossoming till the day we die.
Telegraph
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Virat Kohli's life is in London, but it has nothing to do with playing cricket
The build-up to India's series against England has focused as much on players who are not on tour as those who are. Two grand old oaks, Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin, have retired, and leave a shadow. But those shadows are nowhere as vast as Virat Kohli's – especially as it is cast from so nearby. Kohli is in London, where he is now based with his wife Anushka Sharma, the Bollywood actress, and their young family. Kohli has always liked touring England for the quiet it offers. During a tour of England, they have often been seen dining in the best Indian restaurants in town, largely undisturbed by fans. The couple are thought to reside in Notting Hill where they have taken refuge there for some years, including when Kohli missed the series against England last year for personal reasons. Occasionally, a picture, captured by a fan, pops up of them online, but largely they are left to their own devices. He has even been seen travelling on the tube, reading the newspaper. The idea of Kohli using public transport in India is unimaginable. They are intensely private people, attempting to live a quiet life, which does not sit easily with their status as two of the biggest superstars in India. To put Kohli's level of fame into perspective, he has 274 million followers on Instagram. Just 12 people in the world have more than that, and only two of them are sportspeople in Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. His wife Sharma has 69.7 million, too. The 36-year-old's status in India is in rarefied territory with only Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni, two other former captains, remotely close to the same bracket of significance. So intense is their popularity, that India can be something of a gilded cage for them, with completing daily tasks and travelling around freely incredibly difficult. Even foreign players are often mobbed whenever they are outside the hotels where they stay in. Last year, on England's tour of India, the tourists were in Chandigarh between Tests. I popped into a shopping centre next to the team hotel, and spotted Ben Stokes and Mark Wood in there as well, with caps pulled low over their faces. Within a couple of minutes, they were spotted, and crowded by fans. 'I don't think we can quite understand the level of interest and the stardom these guys have,' said Jos Buttler this week, speaking on his podcast with Stuart Broad, of India's cricketers. And Buttler is well placed to comment, given he is a star in his own right in India due to his IPL achievements but could probably walk anonymously down a high street in the UK without any issue. An extreme and tragic example of India's relationship with cricket came earlier this month. When Kohli's team Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won the Indian Premier League title for the first time, so many people turned up to the hastily-arranged victory parade that there was a horrific crush that killed 11 people and injured many more. RCB's popularity is an extension of Kohli's popularity, and, sadly, many of those people will have turned up just hoping to get a glimpse of him. Kohli's next cricketing assignment will not be until August, when India's ODI team - that is the only format he still plays internationally - tour Bangladesh, although Middlesex have publicly expressed interest in signing him given he is in the area and, essentially, free. So, Kohli will have a bizarre relationship with this box office series. So close, yet so far. Available, but absent. And it is made all the stranger by the fact that he retired as Test cricket's greatest advocate, making quite the proclamation upon finally winning the IPL. 'This moment is right up there with the best moments in my career. But it still ranks five levels below Test cricket,' Kohli said, risking the ire of loyal RCB fans. 'If you want to earn respect, take up Test cricket'. On Monday, it was reported that Kohli hosted a number of India players, including the new leadership team of Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant, at his home. But, largely, he is keeping his head down. Kohli was conspicuous by his absence at Lord's over the last week or so. The great and the good of the global game descended on the home of cricket, including Tendulkar, who also lives in London to get away from the limelight, but not Kohli, who was at neither the World Test Championship final or the MCC's Cricket Connects symposium where the future of the longest format was discussed at length despite being just a couple of miles away. His retirement has naturally piqued the interest of broadcasters including Sky, but it quickly became clear that a significant commentary gig was of no interest. There is still hope that Kohli could be persuaded to do a day, or even just a session, on air before the series is out, particularly at either of the London venues in Lord's or the Oval. If he does make an appearance, it will certainly divert some of the attention away from the cricket, which is something Kohli is all too aware of.
New York Times
10 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
England versus India: Root-Bumrah battle, new captain Gill, but no Kohli for tourists
England and India will go head-to-head over the next six weeks without the cricketing royalty of James Anderson or Virat Kohli for the first time in two decades, but that does not make the five-Test series any less appealing. Two of cricket's 'Big Three' — Australia being the other — have much to prove this summer. India, the fanatical cricket country, against England, the founding fathers of the game, will be a clash of styles. Advertisement And this time, the winning prize has been handed a new name, with The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy — in tribute to former England bowler James and India's greatest batter, Sachin — instead of the Pataudi Trophy. The first Test is at Headingley, Leeds, and begins on Friday. Joe Root and Jasprit Bumrah reflect the beauty of Test cricket, the sport's longest and oldest format, with the battle between bat and ball. Root, 34, remains at the peak of his powers, having scored the most runs of any England player and the fifth-most of any male cricketer in Test history. He has just passed the 13,000 mark and is the only player in the top 12 of run-scorers still in action. He may be the only man now or in the future — owing to the decreasing number of Test matches being played — to have a shot at surpassing Tendulkar's record of 15,921 runs. Bumrah became the first bowler to pick up 200 wickets while conceding fewer than 4,000 runs. He has a unique bowling action but unerring accuracy, speed and takes wickets, whatever the surface. At 31, and with the packed schedule, he is likely to be rotated over the series, but Root versus Bumrah will be box office. England opening batter Ben Duckett has started the summer in imperious form. He has become instrumental in setting the tempo at the start of an innings since Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes became coach and captain in the summer of 2022. India's equivalent, Yashasvi Jaiswal, also left-handed, is 23, but has established himself as one of cricket's most enthralling players, with four Test hundreds and standout performances against England and Australia. He averages 52.88 across 19 Tests. Sai Sudharsan's first-class statistics don't jump off the page, but he is being tipped for big things on his first tour. The 23-year-old's ability to flick the switch has contributed to his success in the Indian Premier League, where he was the leading run scorer in this year's competition, with 759 at an average of 54.21. It led to a maiden Test call-up for the left-hander and he has experience in English conditions, having played for Surrey in the County Championship. Advertisement Karun Nair is back in India's squad following an eight-year hiatus. The 33-year-old played in six Tests for India in 2016 and 2017, but batted only seven times. One of those innings was an unbeaten triple-century against England in Chennai, but his other six innings brought 71 runs and a highest score of only 26. Having been on the periphery domestically, too, a move to Vidarbha in 2023 kickstarted his comeback. He made 863 runs at 53.93 in a title-winning domestic campaign and five hundreds in eight innings at a staggering average of 389.50 in the 50-over competition. His experience could prove vital given the absence of… The 3-1 series defeat in Australia at the turn of the year marked a changing of the guard, as some of India's superstars called an end to glittering careers. Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin retired midway through the series, before captain Rohit Sharma followed, failing to score more than 10 in each of his final five innings and averaging just 24 over the past year. But those retirements were nothing compared to the news of Kohli's Test retirement in May. The 36-year-old, who scored 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85 in 123 Tests, is one of the finest players of his generation and, along with Rohit, had captained his country to the top of the sport in all formats. The captaincy has been given to batter Shubman Gill, 25, a fine top-order player who is easy on the eye, but now contemplating one of the most pressured jobs in sport. He will have to vastly improve a poor record in England, where he averages just 14.66 from six innings. No team has scored runs at a faster rate in Test matches than England since Stokes and McCullum took over. The duo's mantra of not playing for draws lends itself to their broader mindset of refusing to take a backwards step. Together, the novel approach has made the cricketing world take sharp notice, intent on putting pressure on the opposition. 'Bazball' is a style rarely seen, even if McCullum is not a fan of the term derived from the media. At the age of 42, Gautam Gambhir was fast-tracked from former Test opener into India's youngest head coach. His approach contrasts with McCullum's laid-back manner. Gambhir does not smile a lot. He can be a blunt, intense character fixated on a team-first approach and unwilling to pander to India's star individuals. Advertisement Critics of his will argue that his disciplinarian style can lead to him being unapproachable, but early questions regarding his suitability have quietened, with India winning this year's Champions Trophy tournament. The achievement did carry caveats, though, given that circumstances were skewed in India's favour. They played every match outside of the host country of Pakistan due to the conflict between the two countries and, instead, became familiarised with the same surface in Dubai. The wicketkeeper returned to cricket in 2024, more than a year on from a car crash that led to former India player and head coach Ravi Shastri describing the fact Pant could walk again, let alone play cricket, as a 'miracle'. In December 2022, Pant's car collided with a barrier, flipped and caught fire. After being airflifted to Mumbai for surgery, Pant sustained several injuries, including knee ligament damage, a badly broken leg, wrist and ankle issues, and gashes to his back. Pant's recovery was remarkable, playing a part in India's T20 World Cup victory in early 2024 before attuning himself back to the pace of Test cricket in Australia. Pant, 27, is one of the most dangerous and eye-catching wicketkeeper-batters in the world and has had success in England. England have made no secret that their bowling mindset has changed. The success of every regime hinges on The Ashes — especially in light of usual away hammerings — with the lack of bowling threat seen as a common problem. In attempts to address those issues in Australia, England have revamped the profile of their fast bowling battery. England's great duo of Anderson and Stuart Broad have retired, and in their place are a group of inexperienced but promising bowlers. Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue will hit the pitch hard, key on Australia's quick, bouncy surfaces, while Essex's Sam Cook, who made his debut against Zimbabwe last month, is more in the Anderson mould of relying on swing and seam movement. Advertisement Chris Woakes is the only bowler in the squad to have played more than 10 Tests. England's most express bowlers, Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, have suffered regular injury issues and relying on either to feature in the series is a risk. Without them, however, England are far less threatening. First Test: June 20-24, Headingley, Leeds, starts 11am (6am EST) Second Test: July 2-6, Edgbaston, Birmingham, starts 11am (6am EST) Third Test: July 10-14, Lord's, London, starts 11am (6am EST) Fourth Test: July 23-27, Old Trafford, Manchester, starts 11am (6am EST) Fifth Test: July 31-August 4, The Oval, London, starts 11am (6am EST) England (playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir. India (squad): Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (vice captain and wicketkeeper), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (reserve wicketkeeper), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana. England have backed Ollie Pope to carry on where he left off against Zimbabwe by picking him ahead of Jacob Bethell in the key No 3 position for the first Test against India. The vice captain is coming under increasing pressure for his place from Bethell, who made a huge impression in New Zealand last winter after Pope was forced to take the wicketkeeping gloves in the absence of Jamie Smith and then the injured Jordan Cox. But Pope retained his place for the one-off game against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge last month when England allowed Bethell to stay at the IPL with Royal Challengers Bengaluru and he responded with 171 against arguably the worst team in Test cricket. Advertisement Now England have stuck with Pope in their XI for the first Test of this marquee five-match series at Headingley and have named a specialist bowling attack in the absence of the extreme pace of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer — consisting of Chris Woakes, Josh Tongue, Brydon Carse and spinner Shoaib Bashir. The decision over Bethell, 21, has the feel of England just delaying the inevitable promotion of a gifted batsman, which may deny him valuable experience against a strong India side ahead of this winter's Ashes series against Australia. But it is a move defended by Rob Key, the managing director of England men's cricket. 'It's not straight-forward, but I think Bethell will gain so much by playing in the IPL,' Key told The Athletic. 'It's no surprise he came out and played how he did against West Indies (in subsequent white-ball games for England). He spent two months with Virat Kohli. I don't regret him being out there at all. He's going to have an outstanding international career and you can't put a price on the experience he will have had out in India. His time will come in the Test side.' The series will be on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and Willow TV in North America. Click here to follow cricket on The Athletic and see more stories like this. Additional reporting: Anantaajith Raghuraman
