For much of his career, Ben Foakes was viewed as Jonny Bairstow‘s backup goalkeeper, despite being one of England’s best keepers. Ben Foakes demonstrated his value in 2022 while the latter was sidelined due to a leg injury by scoring a century in Manchester against South Africa and adding half-centuries against Pakistan and New Zealand. Nevertheless, he was unable to integrate into England’s system and was not given a chance to be selected for the Ashes in 2023.
Harry Brook, 30, is expected to make his comeback to the national team, albeit he will miss the India series for personal reasons. Bairstow, a showy batsman, will play as a specialist, which allowed Foakes to move up to the playing eleven.
Additionally, Ben Foakes ‘ experience as a wicketkeeper would be very beneficial for the Ben Stokes-led team in India’s spin-friendly conditions.
In light of that, Stokes said that the cricket player is capable of feats that other keepers are not. He described it as “massive” and Ben Foakes as having “a very special talent.”
In addition to doing things that other keepers can’t, he also makes them appear exceedingly simple. Having someone like him who can perhaps take a 2% or 3% risk might be huge in the series. He’s a very exceptional talent behind there, Stokes was cited by the BBC as saying.
Tom Hartley is expected to start his Test career.
Stokes is overjoyed with Tom Hartley’s growth over the past three weeks. The all-rounder said that Hartley bowls at a velocity that is hard for the opposition to read, and as a result, there are rumors that he may be given a chance in the first Test in Hyderabad. Joe Root is the third option, and Hartley is most likely to team with Jack Leach, meaning Shoaib Bashir is already out of the game.
Tom is an extremely tall person. He bowls at a pace that is quite challenging to manage here. He receives a lot of natural variation, which can be quite challenging in India when two balls of the same kind are faced back-to-back; one may turn square, while the other may slide on and gain up pace, according to Stokes.
India
