Good morning and welcome to Telegraph Sport’s coverage of the rescheduled England v India Test match at Edgbaston, ending what has become the longest Test series in history.
England made two changes, with Sam Billings replacing the unwell Ben Fawkes and James Anderson returning to lead the bowling attack.
Jamie Overton is out in place of Anderson, who is back on form after an ankle injury. Overton made 97 on debut and took two wickets but failed to dislodge the opening trio of Anderson, Stuart Broad and Matthew Potts.
Captain Ben Stokes said the Surrey player’s unexpected batting efforts were not enough to earn him another chance this week, but he has put himself in a strong position.
“Jamie got the chance to show what you can do on the cricket field and gave the best possible performance for himself,” Stokes said.
“He’s obviously someone who we see has a bright and long future for him.”
“Obviously it must be very disappointing for him but he can go away knowing he did everything he could do last week to get his name forward to have a good career for England. This is how sport at the top level can sometimes work.”
The Test series will end in the next five days almost a year after it began following a Covid outbreak in the India camp last September, leaving England trailing 2-1.
The rearranged Test, which was called off just hours before kick-off at Old Trafford, is being played on a different pitch, with different captains and coaches and even a different kick-off time.
England had the option of handing over the gloves to an in-form Jonny Bairstow and handing Yorkshire’s Harry Brook a debut in the middle order, but Stokes was unwilling to compromise on a player who produced a career-best run against New Zealand.
“Johnny is in the form of his life at the moment. He’s our best middle-order player at the moment,” he said.
“We just want Johnny to focus on hitting because whatever he’s thinking is working.”
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