Alastair Cook confirms Jos Buttler will play in third Test against India
Saturday 26 November 2016 07:09, UK
England skipper Alastair Cook has confirmed Jos Buttler will play in place of Ben Duckett in the third Test against India, live on Sky Sports 2 from 3.30am on Saturday.
Cook also confirmed fast bowler Stuart Broad will miss the match in Mohali with a tendon injury in his foot and will be replaced by Chris Woakes, while spinner Zafar Ansari is out with a sore back.
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England enter the Test 1-0 down in the five-match series following the 246-run defeat in Visakhapatnam earlier in the week.
Buttler, who has not played Test cricket in 13 months after being dropped against Pakistan in the UAE last year, will bat at No 7, with Moeen Ali moving up the order to take Duckett's position at No 4 and Jonny Bairstow shifting up to No 5.
Speaking of Buttler's recall, Cook said: "We're dealing with a very talented guy and he's earned an opportunity to come and play here.
"It's not ideal circumstances, not having had any practice out here with the red ball or having played a huge amount, but sometimes when the pressure is off you can come out and play and do something special."
Cook insists Duckett still has a bright future ahead with England despite this setback.
"He won't be the only good player that's been dropped," he added. "He has an England future, there is no doubt about it.
"He is a very talented guy with a lot ahead of him and it's amazing chatting to him saying 'I thought I was a pretty good player of spin' and he is a good player of spin, he's just got an issue which has been found out quite quickly, as can happen in these parts of the world and international cricket.
"So he can go away and address that and come again. It's just a blip in his career."
Bairstow will continue to keep wicket despite Buttler's return, although Cook did not elaborate on the make-up of the rest of his side and who would replace Ansari.
"Jonny had a glint in his eye when I said 'we'd like you to move up to five'," he said. "It gives him more chance to bat. He bats at five and keeps at Yorkshire so he's used to that role.
"If everything was ideal we'd leave him at seven because it gives him a bit more time to recover but it gives him more time to bat with better batters."
India must make one enforced change to their winning team on Saturday, with Parthiv Patel replacing the injured Wriddhiman Saha as wicketkeeper.
England (possible): AN Cook (Captain), H Hameed, JE Root, MM Ali, JM Bairstow (wkt), BA Stokes, JC Buttler, CR Woakes, AU Rashid, GJ Batty, JM Anderson.
India (possible): M Vijay, KL Rahul, C Pujara, V Kohli (Captain), A Rahane, R Ashwin, P Patel (wkt), R Jadeja, J Yadav, B Kumar, M Shami.
Umpires: C Gaffaney (NZ) and M Erasmus (SA).
Third umpire: K Dharmasena (SL).
Match referee: R Madugalle (SL).
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