England announce ODI and T20I squads for India tour; Morgan, Hales return
Opening batsman Alex Hales and limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan have both been re-instated to the England ODI and T20I squad that will take on India next month. Ben Duckett, who impressed in the Bangladesh series, which Morgan and Hales both missed over security concerns has been dropped. T20I squad also sees the inclusion of fast bowler Tymal Mills.
Out of form, James Vince and Steven Finn have both been removed from the squad while Joe Root, who was rested for the ODI series against Bangladesh has been included. England coach Trevor Bayliss admitted that bringing back Morgan was a no-brainer.
England have won nine of their last 12 ODIs and the coach said there was little doubt about the return of Hales and Morgan to the limited-overs set-up, which is largely filled with the usual suspects but has three players who can keep wickets, including Sam Billings, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow.
"Morgan not returning as captain was not even discussed," Bayliss said. "It was said earlier that there would not be any recriminations against them and they are straight back in. We have done pretty well over last 18 months and the team we have got has been reasonably stable and successful and there is no reason to change.
"I have not sensed that his authority has been eroded at all. There has been no comment about it. He gets on well with all of the guys in the team. He is very highly respected among everyone for the job he has done over the last two years. He captains the team very well. He is a very positive captain and that means a lot to the players in the team.”
Duckett’s exclusion
Bayliss admitted that not including Duckett was the “toughest decision” despite the fact that the left-hander hasn’t been in great form of late. He also didn’t want the youngster to lose hope as he added that he was desperately unlucky to not get picked.
"There was a lot of discussion around Duckett," Bayliss said. "It was the toughest decision and the one we spoke about the most. He did well in Bangladesh and if we had left someone else out they would have been desperately unlucky as well. We thought that Duckett has done himself no harm. He has shot up the pecking order and he is right there or thereabouts.
"At this stage he is more suited to white-ball cricket and he showed he had what it takes in Bangladesh. There were a couple of innings there that were class. He has done well for himself but we thought we would show a bit of solidarity with the team we have had and done so well in last 12-18 months.”
Speaking about the reason why Billings and Bairstow were picked ahead of Duckett, who impressed in the ODI series against Bangladesh, he said: "Billings and Bairstow at this stage are probably the two spare batters. We think both are two of our better players of spin.
“Billings did well with the opportunity he had in Bangladesh and Bairstow has been batting well. Probably over the last couple of years, due to strength of the team we have had, he has not had the opportunities he would have liked. He is a good player, we all know that, and we want to keep him involved.”
England will take on India in their limited-overs leg of the tour which will see them take part in three ODIs and three T20Is, starting on January 15.
ODI squad: Eoin Morgan (C), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes
T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (C),Moeen Ali, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey
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