Jacob Bethell and Sam Cook will leave the England squad during the five-match Test series against India. Neither were in the squad for the third Test at Headingley so will return to play County Championship cricket for Warwickshire and Essex.
Bethell was in the running for a place in the XI but was overlooked for Ollie Pope. At 21 he had a solid IPL with Royal Challengers Bengaluru and carried that into the limited overs series against West Indies, scoring 82 in the first ODI and making decent contributions in the T20I series which England won 3-0. Now he’s back to Warwickshire to keep his form up as he waits for another chance to play Test cricket.
Read Also:- Most Sixes as Captain
Cook is also leaving the England squad after not making the Headingley XI. The team brought back experienced bowler Chris Woakes who has been out with an ankle injury since last December. Because of Woakes’ return Cook didn’t have a spot, despite his good form in County cricket for Essex. He had hoped to add to his one Test appearance but will now focus on domestic cricket and hope to be called up again.
See Also:- Most Wickets in International Cricket
Both will be looking to keep up their good form as they wait for another chance at the international level. England won the toss and chose to bowl first. India started well with openers KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal taking charge early on. But Brydon Carse changed things up by getting Rahul out and Ben Stokes followed by getting debutant Sai Sudharsan out for a duck just before lunch on Day 1.
