There are two weeks left to go until the first test of India, but now England is a team. On Thursday morning, they appointed a 14-man team for the series opener, Brydon Carse, Chris Woakes and Jamie Overton, all drafted the ball after Gus Atkinson was excluded from injury.

Atkinson had no official date to return after the hamstring was released in last month’s win over Zimbabwe. But between Headingley's first test, which began on June 20 and Lord's second, England hopes last year's breakout star will have an impact on five games.

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Meanwhile, after a one-time test of Zimbabwe, Josh Tongue and Sam Cook may compete for three positions in the XI, and the unused Matthew Potts is now completely ignored. Cook won a game with 119 in his debut 119 and will hope to impress the new ball for the second time.

It may depend on whether the woakes are at speed, the 36-year-old's summer was delayed by bone pressure reactions in his ankle. The next fitness test was to start an outing against the England Lions against India on Friday after playing a round of county cricket for Warwickshire two weeks ago. The tongue will be similarly present in this game, which surprises the early release of the Test Squad.

The same can be said for three years after Overton's loneliness test cap on New Zealand and now nursing a broken little finger. Despite Atkinson's disappearance and Vaux is still proving his preparations, Overton's plundering of the 97's long handle on his debut may improve the lower stage. Carse returned after a toe injury and shines in cricket last winter and can also hold the bat.

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More predictable is the immediate return of Jacob Bethell, who missed a one-time Zimbabwe test due to his clash with the Indian Premier League. The 21-year-old all-around player played a role in New Zealand's Virgin Series last winter, and the question now is whether he will make it to XI as early as possible.

England's first test

Ben Stokes (C), Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Jamie Smith (WK), Josh Tonge, Chris Woakes, Chris Woakes

schedule

1st test: England v India v. June 20-24, 2025, Leeds Headingley

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Second Test: England v. India, July 2-6, 2025, Ed Baston, Birmingham

Third Test: England v. India, July 10-14, 2025, Lord, London.

Fourth Test: England v. India, United Arab Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, July 23-27, 2025

Test 5: England v. India, July 31, 2025, London Kia Oval

If so, it will represent a turnaround for Ben Stokes. In the absence of Bethell, unhappy about Ollie Pope's 171 rise at the Trent Bridge, Stokes hangs out at the Media Contenda in the post-match press conference and throws his weight behind his vice captain.

After this game, Stokes’ enthusiasm for Stokes was his return to bowling after hamstring surgery at the beginning of the year. As a result, initially for the Lions' plan was discarded, Stokes tended to opt out of warm-up cricket and might continue his training preparations.