Zafar Ansari to make England debut, Stuart Broad rested for second Test | Cricket - Hindustan Times
close_game
close_game

Zafar Ansari to make England debut, Stuart Broad rested for second Test

ByReuters, Dhaka
Oct 27, 2016 06:24 PM IST

Zafar Ansari was picked in the England squad for the Pakistan series in 2015 but suffered an injury.

Left-arm orthodox spinner Zafar Ansari will make his England Test debut in the second and final match against Bangladesh while Stuart Broad has been rested as Alastair Cook rotates his side ahead of the tour to India.

Stuart Broad will have to wait for his 100th Test as he was rested for the second game against Bangladesh in Dhaka(Reuters)
Stuart Broad will have to wait for his 100th Test as he was rested for the second game against Bangladesh in Dhaka(Reuters)

Ansari was chosen ahead of his club team mate Gareth Batty, the off-spinner who took 4-116 in the first Test win at Chittagong, on his test return after an 11-year-absence.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Broad, who will be replaced by Steven Finn for the match, which starts on Friday, faces a wait until next month’s tour of India to play his 100th test match.

“Clearly we had the opportunity to not rotate, but the last thing we wanted was to go to India with too many people who haven’t played much cricket,” Cook told BBC Radio 5 live.

“We don’t know a huge amount about either Batty or Ansari in terms of Tests... but they will get one Test each and that is important.”

Ansari claimed 22 wickets in 10 matches for Surrey in the County Championship and will hope to form a potent bowling threat along with off-spinner Moeen Ali and leg-spinner Adil Rashid.

“One thing I’ve seen in the nets is he (Ansari) can bowl at good pace with good control,” Cook said at the pre-match press conference. “It will be really interesting to see how he goes. He can also bat as well, which is good.”

The 24-year-old Ansari was named in England’s squad for the three-Test series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates last year, but was injured hours after his first test call-up.

Cook told his pre-match press conference that fast bowler Jake Ball had also been in contention to replace Chris Woakes, who bowled just 14 overs in the first game.

“In an ideal way we would have liked Jake to have a game as well but we feel as if Chris Woakes hasn’t played a huge amount of cricket on the subcontinent, didn’t have a huge workload in the last game,” he said.

“We feel it’ll be beneficial for him to experience these conditions.”

Traditionally, the Dhaka pitch has offered more for the batsmen than Chittagong, but Cook said he expects a similar challenge to the one they faced in the first test.

“You don’t look too much into stats but historically Dhaka spins less than Chittagong,” he added.

“I have a feeling that might not be the case in this game.”

England squad for second Test: Alastair Cook (captain), Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Gary Ballance, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Zafar Ansari, Steven Finn.

Unlock a world of Benefits with HT! From insightful newsletters to real-time news alerts and a personalized news feed – it's all here, just a click away!- Login Now!
Catch all the Latest Cricket News, Live Cricket Score and IPL 2024 Schedule, match updates along with Cricket Schedule, Purple Cap in IPL 2024, Orange Cap in IPL 2024 and other related updates on Hindustan Times Website and APPs
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
OPEN APP
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On