 "England player Jofra Archer in a file photo. Reuters")
Defending champions England named their squad for the T20 World Cup on Tuesday with Jofra Archer making his return after a year out. His last international appearance goes back to May 2023, and since then, he has been on the road to recovery from an elbow injury that had earlier sidelined him for nearly 12 months.
Archer has had a challenging path to return to action in the last three years. Since 2021, he has encountered multiple injury obstacles, including stress fractures, elbow problems and even surgery due to a freak fish tank accident.
Despite his recent absence from England’s lineup, all-rounder Chris Jordan has secured a spot in the squad, his last international appearance going back to September 2023, as Chris Woakes missed out.
Among the batters, Jos Buttler will lead the 2022 champions with Will Jacks, Phil Salt and Jonny Bairstow among the top-order contenders. Ben Duckett will provide some left-handed options to the squad along with veteran all-rounder Moeen Ali.
Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone and Sam Curran will provide the lower-order firepower to the team while Adil Rashid will lead the spin attack alongside Tom Hartley.
England will use the same squad for the four-match T20I series against Pakistan which begins on 22 May. All the players who are currently part of the Indian Premier League (IPL), will return by the time the Babar Azam-led Pakistan team visit.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsEngland’s first match of the T20 World Cup is against Scotland in Barbados on 4 June. They are drawn in Group B alongside Australia, Namibia, Scotland and Oman.
England squad: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, Mark Wood