Tom Hartley to debut as England name three spinners; one quick bowler in Wood

England have selected Mark Wood as their sole fast bowler alongside three specialist spinners in the first Test against India, which begins in Hyderabad on Thursday.

It means a Test debut for left-arm spinner Tom Hartley, who has 40 wickets at 36.57 in just 20 first-class appearances for Lancashire. Alongside him will be legspinner Rehan Ahmed, whose only Test appearance came last winter in Pakistan, where he took 5 for 48 in the second innings.

This makes Jack Leach, Ben Stokes' go-to spinner under his tenure, the de facto leader of the attack, having missed the Ashes last summer due to a stress fracture in his back. Joe Root, who took a career-best score of 5 off 8 in Ahmedabad during England's last Test tour of India, will also have a major role to play with the ball.

Shoaib Bashir, the other player in the team, has not yet traveled to India following a delay in the granting of his visa. He has reportedly returned to the UK from the UAE, where he was present for the pre-series training camp, in a bid to speed up the process. England hope he can join them by the weekend.

The sole seam position went to Wood, whose extra pace and talent for reverse swing give him a point of difference, ahead of James Anderson, Ollie Robinson and Gus Atkinson. Wood reaffirmed his class as a Test bowler last summer, entering the Ashes for the final three matches to take 14 wickets as England overcame a 2-0 deficit to level the series 2-2 .

Speaking to traveling British media on Tuesday, Stokes insisted he would be happy to back “any” of England's four seamers to lead the line, but admitted Wood's extreme pace was a tempting option to which to turn. It will be the first time since 1962 that England have played a Test match with a lone fast bowler.

“If we choose to go with a single seamer, you can't deny what Woody has as a package,” Stokes said. “His express pace and he can also swing the ball backwards… the skills he has are obviously something you want in your team. We have flawless pace with Gus and Woody and then us” “I have the incredible skills that Jimmy and Robbo possess. We have all the bases covered, no matter which team we decide to go with.”

England's previous dalliance with a single 'full-time' quick came on the previous tour of India in the fourth Test in Ahmedabad. Anderson, however, was assisted on this occasion by Stokes, who claimed 4 for 89 in India's only innings, but is unable to play at present as he continues his recovery from knee surgery undertaken in late November.

Wood, for his part, acknowledged his difficulties with penetration during a difficult ODI World Cup campaign earlier this winter, in which he took six wickets at 58.16 in seven matches, but was excited about the prospect of fulfilling his role with the testing regulations. and fields to back up his methods: “I think with my track record, being the only couturier, there would be question marks on me, but if that happens, that's another thing I can hopefully “to prove to people what I can do,” he said.

While the three-round strategy is a bold move, it is not unique to India. Australia used the same tactic this time last year, choosing the trio of Nathan Lyon, Matthew Kuhnemann and Todd Murphy for the final three Tests of their four-match series. Skipper Pat Cummins was the only fast bowling option in the second Test, before all-rounder Cameron Green returned from injury for the third in Indore. He bowled only two overs in the match as the spinners took 18 of the 20 wickets in Australia's only victory.

Stokes confirmed his starting XI at the pre-match press conference on Wednesday, having used his Tuesday briefing with the traveling print media to defend his players.

“I just think we've picked the players who we think will give us the best opportunity to win here, regardless of their experience,” the England captain said. “Sometimes experience can be a little overrated and overthought.

“The guys we have here are going to give us the best possible chance to win and whatever the end result is, we came here with the best team to give us the best chance of doing that.”

On a possible debut for Hartley, Stokes suggested the Lancashire spinner's height and bowling pace meant he could potentially replicate some of the success enjoyed by Indian spinners in their home conditions.

“Tom is someone who is obviously very tall,” he said. “He bowls at a very difficult pace to deal with here and he is someone who has a lot of natural variation, which in India is sometimes the hardest thing to face where you have two identical balls, ball after ball .”

Ben Foakes will be England's designated wicketkeeper after being left out last summer. Jonny Bairstow, who kept the Ashes ahead of Foakes, will move into fifth place after Harry Brook returns home for family reasons, with hopes Bairstow can replicate his 2022 summer form of 681 runs, including four centuries, at an average of 75.66 while playing as a batter. Vice-captain Ollie Pope returns to number three after dislocating his right shoulder while playing in the second Ashes Test at Lord's last July.

“There is no doubt about Ben Foakes’ skills behind the stumps,” Stokes said. “He can not only do things that other goalkeepers can't do, but also make them incredibly easy. So having someone like that behind the sticks is helpful, especially if we find ourselves in conditions where the ball is turning. “He's a very special talent. It's good to have someone like that behind the stumps.”

“I've already spoken to him [Bairstow] and told him that Ben Foakes was going to keep and that he should just worry about batting at No.5. We saw what happened when his role was made clear to him in my first summer as captain, we saw what we were able to get from him, and I don't want him to 'worries about anything other than hitting five-pointers, getting short and what's in front of him here and now. »

Speaking more broadly on England's selection approach over the coming weeks, Stokes reiterated the need for dexterity, both in terms of thinking and use of resources.

“I guess it's about, when selecting the team, what you think is going to give you the best chance of winning, and who is going to give you more in certain conditions. Whatever the bowling attack we are looking for, if it has to be a seamer, who will that seamer be? Who will be more capable of exploiting the conditions and how do we want that bowler to bowl? If it is two seamers, then who do we want these two to be together [to be]?

“India is one of those places where you have to think about selection a lot more than anywhere else in the world, because of what you can get from the wicket.”

The conditions could even see Stokes flex his reputation as a genial captain and throw the new ball to Root.

“Again, like I said about the throws, it would be a matter of instinct, like most of my decisions like that. You might even see Rooty taking the new ball depending on what I feel. If [Yashasvi] Jaiswal opens the batting, you could see Rooty opening the bowling with this new ball because it's coming away from the bat.

England XI 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Ben Foakes (week), 8 Rehan Ahmed, 9 Mark Wood, 10 Tom Hartley, 11 Jack Leach

7:53 GMT: This story has been updated following confirmation from the England Test squad.