England is likely to play Jonny Bairstow as batter in IND vs ENG 1st Test, starting on January 25 in Hyderabad.
The Three Lions have picked Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow as their wicketkeeper-batters for the tour but are likely to hand the gloves to former due to his wicket-keeping skills in spin-friendly conditions.
Foakes, who was also part of England’s tour to India in 2021, did brilliantly behind the stumps on rank turners.
Senior English journalist, George Dobell shared a glimpse of England’s first practice session at Rajiv Gandhi Cricket Stadium. Dobell reported that Foakes had a wicketkeeping session, while Bairstow did catching drills at slips in the training.
Earlier, former England wicketkeeper-batter Bob Taylor also backed Foakes to take the wicketkeeping gloves for the Test series.
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“I was there watching at Galle when Ben Foakes scored a hundred on debut. I would have persevered with him but then the next thing you know, he’s been dropped. The one thing I did notice last summer was that Jonny Bairstow was not fit.
He had a bad injury and came back and had put a bit of weight on and that can affect your concentration. I would go with Ben in India where you keep all day in heat and humidity,” Taylor told The Telegraph.
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