India Batter Suffers Injury Scare Ahead Of 1st England Test. Reason Is...

Indian cricket team batter Karun Nair suffered a massive injury scare ahead of the first Test match against England starting Friday. Nair, who was facing fast bowler Prasidh Krishna in the nets, failed to make contact with the delivery and was struck on his ribs. The batter looked in a spot of bother after getting hit by the delivery before he resumed batting once again. It is a huge occasion for Karun Nair as he is expected to play his first Test match since 2017. Nair, who fell out of favour with the selectors, found a spot in the squad for the England Tests following a brilliant run of form in domestic cricket.

Meanwhile, Chris Woakes returned to the England line-up while Ollie Pope was preferred over Jacob Bethell as the hosts on Wednesday named their playing XI for the opening Test against India.

Woakes, who missed the previous two Tests due to an ankle injury, replaces Sam Cook, while Brydon Carse comes in for Gus Atkinson, who is sidelined with a hamstring issue.

Woakes' inclusion at number eight adds valuable all-round strength, allowing England to field Jamie Smith as a specialist wicketkeeper-batter at No. 7 while maintaining a deep batting line-up.

The hosts also named vice-captain Ollie Pope at number three, opting for experience over youth as 21-year-old Bethell was sidelined.

Pope, who made 171 against Zimbabwe in his most recent outing, keeps his place despite a modest average of 22.05 from 18 combined Tests against India and Australia -- a figure well below his career average of 35.49.

The decision underlines England's emphasis on continuity and batting depth.

Bethell had impressed with three fifties against New Zealand last year including a career-best 96 from his modest three Test outings.

England XI for first Test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue and Shoaib Bashir.

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