England announce full-strength squad for Old Trafford T20I against Pakistan

England are currently on a roll in the limited-overs formats

England have named a full-strength squad for the one-off T20I against Pakistan on September 7^th at Old Trafford. With all-rounder Ben Stokes and pacer Mark Wood proving their fitness sufficiently, the selectors opted to include them in this English summer’s final fixture.

However, the likes of Jonny Bairstow, David Malan, and Liam Dawson have found themselves excluded from the 14-man squad which reiterates ECB’s renewed focus on white-ball cricket.

Test regulars Joe Root and Moeen Ali return after being rested for the Sri Lanka encounter along with the dangerous Alex Hales who broke a national record during his stellar knock in the 3^rd ODI. But, James Vince continued to be omitted following his woeful recent form.

National Selector James Whitaker stated, “It is excellent to see the progress we are making in white ball cricket across both formats. The T20 international against Pakistan will give the squad another opportunity to measure their development.”

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He added, “The squad has an exciting feel with exceptional talent throughout. We are delighted to welcome back Ben Stokes and Mark Wood into the squad. Both are world-class players and are an important part of our long-term plans to become the best side in the world. It is a testament to the excellent work being nurtured in the county structure and through the England Lions, that there is a depth of quality pushing the nucleus of the current group.”

The squad contains three seam bowling options in T20 specialist Tymal Mills along with Liam Plunkett and Chris Jordan. Ali and Adil Rashid take care of the spin department even as the batting lineup looks more or less settled.

Having taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in the 5-match ODI series, England will be keen on continuing their momentum in the remaining two matches in Leeds and Cardiff before the action shifts to the shortest format.

Full Squad: Eoin Morgan (c) (Middlesex), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (wk) (Lancashire), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Tymal Mills (Sussex), Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), David Willey (Yorkshire) and Mark Wood (Durham)