The England and Wales Cricket Board has publicized its teams for the limited overs cricket matches which will be played against India in December-January 2012.
The tourists won the recently concluded four Test series against India with a margin of 2-1. England was beaten badly in the first Test at Ahmedabad by 9 wickets but they came back strongly and clinched the second Test by 10 wickets at Mumbai. The fate of the series was sealed by the visitors when they beat India by seven wickets in the third Test at Kolkata as the fourth and final Test at Nagpur ended in a draw.
The Englishmen proved their superiority in all aspects of the game especially in the last three Tests. Their batting was well led by the skipper, Alastair Cook, who was the chief scorer in the series by hammering 562 runs in 8 innings at an awesome average of 80.28 with the best of 190 comprising three tons. Graeme Swann was the highest wicket taker with 20 from four games whereas the other spinner, Monty Panesar, captured 17 while appearing in just three matches.
James Anderson was the supreme fast bowler from either side since he grabbed 12 wickets in the series at an average of 30.25 runs per wicket with the best of 4-81 in an innings and 6-127 in a match. He was declared ‘Player of the match’ in the fourth and Final Test at Nagpur for his superb bowling. His counterpart, Zaheer Khan, from India managed just four wickets in three games whereas Steven Finn, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma secured four wickets after appearing in one game each.
Anderson was initially picked up for the opening three One Day Internationals of the five match series but has been dropped from the revised unit. The England selectors preferred providing rest to their champion bowler to help him conserve his energies for the forthcoming cricket games and replaced him with Chris Woakes. The batting duo of Jos Buttler and Joe Root has also been included in the squads. The ECB commented on the selection by saying,
“Woakes and Buttler replace Anderson and Trott in the India ODI squad as the selectors look to manage workloads.”
Below, we will highlight the brief careers of Chris Woakes, Jos Buttler and Joe Root.
Chris Woakes
Christopher Roger Woakes was born on March 2, 1989, in Birmingham, Warwickshire, a right arm medium fast bowler and right hand batsman. He has played for England, England Under-19s, Warwickshire, Herefordshire, England Lions and Marylebone Cricket Club.
He is an energetic lanky fast bowler with the ability to become a bright future prospect for the country. Woakes has been a consistent performer at the domestic level and has represented England in few ODIs and Twenty20s.
The 23-year-old made his debut in T20 vs. Australia on January 12, 2011, at Adelaide Oval and secured one wicket. He has appeared in 3 T20s and taken 2 wickets averaging 47.00 with the best of 1-29. Chris Woakes was inducted in the English ODI side vs. Australia on January 23, 2011, at Sydney Cricket Ground and got one wicket in the match. He has played six ODIs and claimed seven wickets at an average of 29.14 with the best of 6-45.
Jos Buttler
Joseph Charles Buttler was born on September 8, 1990, in Taunton, Somerset, a right hand batsman who can keep the wickets as well. He has represented England, Somerset, England Lions, Somerset 2nd XI and England Under-19’s.
He is an aggressive batsman who has plundered a lot of runs on the domestic circuit at a brisk rate. The 22-year-old played his only ODI vs. Pakistan on February 12, 2012, at Dubai but was unable to score any run.
Buttler made his T20 debut vs. India on August 31, 2011, at Old Trafford, Manchester and was not required to bat in the match which England won by six wickets. He has played 16 T20s, scored 108 runs at an average of 13.50 with the best of unbeaten 32 runs.
Joe Root
Joseph Edward Root was born on December 30, 1990, in Sheffield, Yorkshire, a right hand middle order batsman and right arm off spin bowler. He has played for England, England Under-19s, Yorkshire 2nd XI, England Lions, Yorkshire Under-17’s and Yorkshire Academy.
He is a typical blend of batsmen and prefers to play his shots according to the merit of the ball without taking undue risk. Root proved his worth on his debut Test vs. India at Nagpur where he came into bat when England was struggling at 4-119 in their first innings. The youngster played like a matured batsman and scored 73 runs off 289 balls comprising just 4 fours and remained unbeaten for 20 in the second innings. He significantly contributed in drawing the fourth Test which resulted in the 2-1 series win for the visitors against the mighty Indians.
The 21-year-old has yet to appear in any shorter version of the game but can foresee a bright future ahead of him.
Twenty20 squad:
Eoin Morgan (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Alex Hales, Michael Lumb, Stuart Meaker, Samit Patel, James Tredwell, Luke Wright, Joe Root, James Harris.
ODI squad:
Alastair Cook (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Ian Bell, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter, Stuart Meaker, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen, James Tredwell, Chris Woakes, Jos Buttler.
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