England ODI squad for India series announced - Alex Hales included, Ravi Bopara dropped
Alex Hales has earned a berth in the England squad for their upcoming One Day International series against India, while Ravi Bopara has been surprisingly dropped, giving a strong hint into the thinking of the England selectors going into the 50-over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next year.
Michael Carberry and Tim Bresnan, who featured in England’s previous ODI squads, miss out, too, but Steven Finn earns a well-deserved recall after some impressive performances for Middlesex this county season.
Hales in the best form of his career
Hales’ inclusion in the ODI squad comes as no surprise after his domineering performances for club and country in recent months. He scored the first T20 international hundred by an England batsman during the 2014 World T20 in March-April and has now followed it up with three List A hundreds for Nottinghamshire in the last three weeks. With the World Cup being held in Oceania where the par score will be around 280, he also gives England much-needed impetus at the top of the order.
Hales has been viewed as a T20 specialist in the past which is why he is yet to play an ODI for England. But his recent run of form in the longer formats of the game seems to have convinced the selectors of his adaptability to other formats, too. Hales, while speaking to the media last week, had said that he feels his game is in really good order at the moment and hopes to continue his purple patch with England.
"Following the tons for the Lions last week, at Lord's on Thursday and now today, I feel I'm in the best form of my career - and I hope it continues," Hales said.
Bopara hard done by
Bopara, though, could consider himself unlucky to have been dropped, having scored 550 runs in 25 matches at a decent average of 35 at a strike-rate close to 90, besides making useful contributions with the ball during the middle overs.
The development of Moeen Ali and the promise shown by Ben Stokes, as all-rounders, seems to have cost Bopara his place, and he will have to go back to county cricket and score tons of runs for Essex to get back into ODI contention.
Broad opts out
Stuart Broad’s name is also missing from the ODI squad, but his omission is on completely expected lines with him having to undergo a knee surgery at some stage in the next 2-3 weeks. Finn, in all probability, is the replacement for Broad, and he will be determined to show the improvements he has made in his bowling since his disastrous tour of Australia last year.
"With the World Cup now less than six months away our focus over the coming months switches to identifying our strongest possible squad for that competition," James Whitaker, the national selector, said. "However this is an important series in its own right and we have selected 15 players who we believe will perform well against an Indian side with a strong one day record.
"This series presents an opportunity for players to build on their international and domestic form and demonstrate that they have the ability to win games of cricket for England. With plenty of domestic limited overs cricket still to be played this season and a series against Sri Lanka in November before finalizing our World Cup squad there are still opportunities for us to consider a number of players who have missed out on selection."
England squad: Alastair Cook (c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Jos Buttler, Steven Finn, Harry Gurney, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Eoin Morgan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Tredwell and Chris Woakes