England XI vs India: James Anderson returns, Ben Foakes out with COVID-19 for fifth Test – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

England named their playing XI for the re-scheduled fifth Test against India with James Anderson returning in place of Jamie Overton. Elsewhere, Sam Billings remains will keep wickets with Ben Foakes missing out on account of a stiff back and a positive COVID-19 test.

Billings came in as a replacement for COVID-19 positive Foakes for the third Test against New Zealand.

Stokes said at the press conference: “Ben Foakes is our keeper going forward. We want Jonny Bairstow to concentrate on doing what he’s doing with the bat.”

Anderson, England’s highest wicket-taker, missed the final game against New Zealand with a left ankle concern.

In his absence, Overton played a crucial role with the bat. He scored 97 runs with England’s backs against the wall to recover from 55/6 in the first innings.

On Overton, Stokes said, “Jamie got his opportunity to show what he can do. He gave the best account possible.”

“We see a bright future for him with England going forward. He can walk away knowing he’s done everything possible to have a good career for England.”

Stokes also offered the likes of Zak Crawley leeway despite a poor string of scores. The opener scored just 86 runs in the three Tests versus New Zealand with a highest score of 43 runs.

“This team is going to be given a lot of time to perform,” the skipper said. “Zak is still in my plans to make this test team great again regardless of what happens here.”

The fifth Test gets underway on Friday (1 July) with India leading the series 2-1.

England XI: Zak Crawley, Alex Lees, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Sam Billings (wk), Matthew Potts, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, James Anderson

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