Former England captain Michael Vaughan on Monday said that the decision to sit out wicketkeeper-batsman Jony Bairstow from the first two Tests against India does not make sense. England announced the squad for the first two Tests and Bairstow, along with fast bowlers Sam Curran and Mark Wood were some of the notable absentees.
The trio has been rested as part of ECB's player management policy, which stresses on giving adequate rest to every English cricketer in a packed calendar year, which includes 17 Tests and the ICC T20 World Cup.
Responding to the squad selection, Vaughan took to Twitter and wrote. "Surely @jbairstow21 stays with the Test team for the start of the #India series ... makes no sense that a player who has only just got his Test place back & plays spin is well is resting !!!! #SLvENG !!#OnOn," Vaughan tweeted.
This is not the first time Vaughan had criticsed the selection. Earlier, referring to Bairstow, Vaughan had tweeted: "The only player in England's Top 3 that's playing the sub continent conditions with any control or calmness is resting for the first 2 Tests against the best Team in world at home #India !!! The world is officially mad ... #SLvENG."
{{/usCountry}}This is not the first time Vaughan had criticsed the selection. Earlier, referring to Bairstow, Vaughan had tweeted: "The only player in England's Top 3 that's playing the sub continent conditions with any control or calmness is resting for the first 2 Tests against the best Team in world at home #India !!! The world is officially mad ... #SLvENG."
{{/usCountry}}England captain Joe Root was asked about the same after winning the 2nd Test against Sri Lanka, and he said the team has to adjust to the player rotations in the current climate.
"We always want our best players there as often as possible, because of the world we're in right now it's not feasible and we have to manage that the best we can," Root said.
"But he's still got an opportunity to affect the series and sure he'll be desperate to keep up the good form," he added.