"Genuinely spent 5 seconds looking for my name" - Stuart Broad after announcement of England Test squad for away series against India
Former England pacer Stuart Broad said that he spent five seconds searching for his name in the Test squad announced for England's tour of India on Monday (December 11).
The upcoming five-match Test series in India will be England's first since Broad announced his retirement. He hung up his boots after the final Ashes Test at the Kennington Oval in London against Australia in July.
Stuart Broad ended his career on a high. He picked up a wicket on the final ball of his international career, which also resulted in a Test win for England.
Broad played 167 Tests across his 16-year career and picked up 604 wickets at an average of 27.68, including 20 five-wicket hauls.
After a short break from Test cricket, England will tour India for a five-match Test series starting in January next year. ECB officially announced the 16-man squad for the series on Monday.
Here is the English Test squad for the series against India:
Ben Stokes, Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, and Mark Wood
Sharing the picture of the squad on his Instagram story, Stuart Broad wrote:
"Genuinely spent 5 seconds looking for my name."
"You back that environment that Stokes and McCullum have created" - Robert Key on selecting 3 uncapped players in Test squad for India tour
England men's cricket's managing director, Robert Key, shed light on the thought process behind the selection of three uncapped players - Shoaib Bashir, Tom Hartley, and Gus Atkinson - for the Test series against India. He said (via Cricket.com):
"You want to see how the ball comes out of their hand - you're going more to the art of selection, rather than the science of selection - and you back that environment that Stokes and McCullum have created with all the other players, to get the best out of these people.
"With Stokesy's captaincy in particular, your bet is often that he'll be the one who can get something out of these players. You just want to create an environment where you think they can thrive, which is no mean feat when you're talking about a Test tour of India."
England's tour of India will commence on January 25 with the first Test at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.