England Test captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out of next year’s Champions Trophy one-day international in Pakistan and the previous white-ball tour of India, the team management announced on Sunday.
The star all-rounder was not considered for either job after suffering a left hamstring injury during England’s loss to New Zealand in the third Test in Hamilton earlier this month.
Stokes went unbeaten in the second innings of that match in a bid to prevent further damage as England collapsed to a colossal 423-run defeat – a result which meant his side won the three-match series 2-1.
With England facing a five-match home Test series against India starting in June ahead of the flagship 2025/26 Ashes tour of Australia, the team management decided not to risk inspirational red-ball skipper Stokes in the Champions Trophy .
But key batsman Joe Root, who preceded close friend Stokes as Test captain, returns to the ODI squad for the first time since the 2023 World Cup in India.
Fast bowler Mark Wood, who missed the recent Test tours of both Pakistan and New Zealand with a bone stress injury in his right elbow, is in both squads.
The India series and the Champions Trophy will mark England’s first limited-overs tour and tournament under coach Brendon McCullum, who was previously just in charge of the Test side.
Butler stays on as captain
Jos Buttler has retained the captaincy of the two white-ball teams despite England handing over the 50-over and T20 world titles from November 2023.
But it is possible that the dashing batsman will not keep a wicket, as he has done for much of his limited-overs career.
Both the ODI squad for the tour of India and the Champions Trophy, as well as the squad for five T20s in India in January, feature two other keepers in Test gloveman Jamie Smith, who missed the New Zealand series to attend the birth of the first of the child. and Phil Salt.
Meanwhile, 21-year-old rising star Jacob Bethell, who made his Test series debut with three fifties in New Zealand, is included in both squads.
Leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed joins the T20 squad, while Root is picked only for the ODIs.
The tour party departs for India on January 17, with the first match of a five-match series against world T20 champions India in Kolkata on January 22.
India and England will then play a three-match ODI series in the run-up to the Champions Trophy, starting in Nagpur on February 6.
Match dates for the Champions Trophy, which also features Pakistan as well as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, are yet to be announced, with the tournament running from February 19 to 9 March.
England ODI squad for tour of India, Champions Trophy in Pakistan: Jos Buttler (c/w), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethel, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith (r), Liam Livingston, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Shakib Mahmood, Phil Salt ( wkt), Mark Wood
England T20 squad to tour India: Jos Buttler (cap/w), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethel, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith (r), Liam Livingston, Adil Rashid, Shakib Mahmood, Phil Salt ( wkt), Mark Wood
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