Former England captain David Gower said he is ‘slightly annoyed’ with England resting key players for the upcoming ‘box office’ four-match Test series against India.
However, he added that England’s Test schedule could not be overlooked along with the strain of spending long spells in biosecure bubbles.
Jos Buttler is set to be one of the prominent absentees as he will head back home after the first Test.
Meanwhile, Jonny Bairstow, Mark Wood, and Sam Curran will not be involved in the first two Tests.
Speaking on this matter, as per AFP, David Gower said:
“Forget the World Test Championship for a moment; this is now as historic a series as any. India-England is one of the flagstaff series; it’s an immense series, a box-office series. As a Test fan, I’m slightly annoyed England have already made plans for Jos Buttler to play the one Test match. Just as an Englishman, wanting England to do well in this series, you want the best players to be available for as much of it as possible.”
England currently have an outside chance of making the ICC World Test Championship final. They would need to win three of the upcoming four matches against India.
The Men In Blue are currently seen as the favourites given their exploits down under.
Joe Root to play his 100th Test match for England
England skipper Joe Root will play his 100th Test for England when he takes the field for the first Test in Chennai starting tomorrow.
Root will become the 15th English cricketer to achieve the feat.
David Gower, who is himself on that list, said:
“If you look at Joe’s figures, he is the most successful of all of us who have reached that 100-Test mark. Compared to (Geoffrey) Boycott, (Kevin) Pietersen, (Alastair) Cook, he is ahead of the game.”
Joe Root will undoubtedly be the key man for England in their batting unit.
He showed his class in Sri Lanka recently with massive scores of 228 and 186 in two Tests, helping the Three Lions to win the series 2-0.
Published 04 Feb 2021, 12:36 IST
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