India v England: Eoin Morgan & Alex Hales return to ODI & T20 squads

  • Published
  • comments
Media caption,

No issue with Morgan and Hales return - Bayliss

Captain Eoin Morgan and opening batsman Alex Hales have been named in the England squads for next month's one-day and Twenty20 series in India.

Both players chose to miss the tour of Bangladesh in October because of security concerns.

Joe Root features in both squads, having been rested for the ODI series win in Bangladesh, but Ben Duckett, James Vince and Steven Finn miss out.

England play three ODIs and three T20s in India from 15 January to 1 February.

Morgan, 30, is the seventh highest England ODI run-scorer in history, with 5,020 runs at an average of 37 in 170 matches.

Under Morgan, England won seven of their eight ODIs this summer, but the left-hander averaged only 29 from 13 innings in 2016.

Hales, 27, who made the highest one-day score by an England batsman when he hit 171 against Pakistan at Trent Bridge in August, averages 37 in 38 games.

Northamptonshire left-hander Duckett, 22, scored two fifties in his first three ODIs against Bangladesh but was dropped from the Test team after managing only 18 runs in three innings on the current tour of India.

England's Test team trail 2-0 in the five-match series, with the fourth Test in Mumbai starting on Thursday.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Morgan led England to ODI series victories over Sri Lanka and Pakistan at home this summer

'Increased pressure on Morgan'

Jonathan Agnew, BBC cricket correspondent

The England and Wales Cricket Board had guaranteed that both Morgan and Hales would not be penalised for missing Bangladesh.

Although both return, there's no doubt there is increased pressure on Morgan to perform with the bat, not just because of the depth of reserves but also because Jos Buttler proved a success as captain.

The main casualty appears to be Duckett, whose one-day performances in Bangladesh led him to playing in the first four Tests of the winter.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Hales has a strike-rate of 94 in ODIs and 133 in T20s

'Morgan's position not weakened by absence'

England coach Trevor Bayliss said there was never any doubt that Morgan and Hales would come back into the team after missing the Bangladesh trip.

He dismissed suggestions that their return would aggrieve players who toured Bangladesh, where Buttler led the team to a 2-1 victory in the ODI series.

"No-one was annoyed that they didn't go," Bayliss told BBC Test Match Special. "They are good mates of all the players in the team. There are certainly no problems at all."

Asked whether Morgan's position as captain had been weakened by his choosing not to tour Bangladesh, Bayliss said: "No, not at all.

"He's been the captain for the last couple of years during a successful period in white-ball cricket.

"There have been no whispers around the squad or from anyone. In fact, everyone is looking forward to welcoming him back to the fold."

On Duckett's omission, Bayliss said: "He did extremely well in Bangladesh and that's a great sign for not only himself but for English cricket moving forward.

"He's certainly come up the pecking order. If we'd have let someone else out they'd have been desperately unlucky.

"The batters we have have been a part of the one day cricket in that successful period over the past two years. We wanted to keep things stable. "

England ODI squad: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, captain), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Jake Ball (Nottinghamshire), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), David Willey (Yorkshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire).

T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, captain), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jake Ball (Nottinghamshire), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Tymal Mills (Sussex), Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), David Willey (Yorkshire).

England in India - limited-overs schedule

15 Jan: 1st ODI, Pune (all ODIs start at 09:00 GMT)

26 Jan: 1st T20, Kanpur (all T20s start at 13:30 GMT)

19 Jan: 2nd ODI, Cuttack

29 Jan: 2nd T20, Nagpur

22 Jan: 3rd ODI, Kolkata

1 Feb: 3rd T20, Bangalore

Around the BBC

Related internet links

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.