Twenty20 World Cup | England drops Jason Roy, brings back Woakes and Wood
The Hindu
Former champions England begin their Twenty20 World Cup campaign against Afghanistan on October 22 in Perth.
England dropped out-of-form opener Jason Roy and welcomed back fit-again seamers Chris Woakes and Mark Wood in their squad for the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia beginning next month.
Roy has been an integral part of England's white-ball squad and his explosive batting at the top of the order embodied the team's aggressive approach as they won their maiden 50-overs World Cup title in 2019.
The 32-year-old has struggled for runs this summer and hit 76 runs in total in his last six Twenty20 Internationals which made his position untenable for the World Cup and the preceding seven-match Twenty20 series in Pakistan.
Woakes and Wood, both of whom last played for England during the test tour of the West Indies in March, have recovered from their respective injuries to be in both squads.
The World Cup squad includes Chris Jordan (finger) and Liam Livingstone (ankle) who will skip the Pakistan tour to continue their rehabilitation, the England and Wales Cricket Board said in a statement.
Captain Jos Buttler, who is recovering from a calf injury, will tour Pakistan but will be available to play only in the later stages of the series.
"In Buttler's absence, Moeen Ali will captain the side," the ECB said.
Daniel Quizon is the latest to join the band of leaders. The Philippines player beat Russian Artion Stribuk on the third board in the ninth round at the Gift City Club on Tuesday. The four overnight leaders – Kazybek Nogerbek of Kazakhstan, Russia’s Rudik Makarian, Mamikon Gharibyan of Armenia, and Colombia’s Jose Gabriel Cardoso – were featured in the drawn games on the top two boards.
On the seam-friendly pitches at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, Axar Patel’s left-arm spin plays second fiddle to the pacers. Axar, however, has added great value as a batter. The southpaw, promoted to No. 4 in the Pakistan outing on Sunday, held the Indian innings together with an 18-ball 20.