England T20I squad vs Pakistan: England have made as many as five changes to their T20I squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series.
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England have announced a strong 16-member squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Pakistan starting from July 16 in Nottingham.
As many as five changes have been made to the squad which had whitewashed Sri Lanka 3-0 last month. All-rounder Sam Curran, who was declared as the Man of the Series against Sri Lanka, is among the five names who have been left out to perhaps maintain their workload ahead of a five-match Test series against India.
Apart from Curran, batsman Sam Billings, all-rounders Liam Dawson and Chris Woakes and fast bowler Mark Wood have also been rested for Pakistan T20Is. It is worth mentioning that Billings isn’t part of the squad for he was diagnosed with COVID-19 recently.
Good luck to the lads in the T20s 🙌🏼
Thankfully now recovered from COVID & 10 days done ✅
Now following the ECB return to play protocol which rules me out of playing for @KentCricket this weekend unfortunately 😔
Been a frustrating time, hopefully play some cricket soon…🤞🏼
— Sam Billings (@sambillings) July 14, 2021
England T20I squad vs Pakistan
England pacer Saqib Mahmood, who was the highest wicket-taker in the ODI series against Pakistan with his nine wickets coming at an average of 13.66, an economy rate of 4.39 and a strike rate of 18.6, has been rewarded with a T20I comeback.
All-rounder Lewis Gregory, Mahmood’s new-ball bowling partner, has also benefited from contributing across divisions in three ODIs. In addition to bowling figures of 19-1-97-4 in three outings, Gregory was England’s second-highest run-scorer with his 117 runs coming at an average and strike rate of 58.50 and 100.86 respectively.
Spinner Matt Parkinson and fast bowler Jake Ball, both of whom also played in the recently concluded ODI series, have also been handed comebacks into the T20I squad. While Parkinson had played the last of his two T20Is during the tour of New Zealand in 2019, the last of Ball’s two T20Is had come against India in 2018.
Batsman Tom Banton, who had last played for England against Australia last year, would be hoping for another opportunity at the highest level after being named in the T20I squad.
England squad for Pakistan T20Is – Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Tom Banton, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Lewis Gregory, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Matt Parkinson, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, David Willey.
