England drop Stokes, Malan for 2nd Test, Woakes, Ollie Pope called in

The second England vs India test will be played at the Lord's on August 9

England have announced a 13-member squad for the upcoming second Test against India, scheduled to be played at the Lord’s on August 9.

All-rounder Ben Stokes, who played a vital role in clinching the game in Birmingham, has not been included in the side as he is set to appear at Bristol court on Monday for affray charges following a brawl in September last year. He has pleaded not guilty and vowed to clear his name in court.

Apart from Stokes, batsman Dawid Malan has also been axed following his poor performance with the bat during the Birmingham Test. Malan scored 8 and 20 in the first Test and now has an average of mere 19 in 12 innings.

On the other hand, 20-year-old Ollie Pope has been inducted into the squad who will replace Malan. If he plays, he will become the fifth man, aged 20 or under to make his Test debut for England after Haseeb Hameed (19 years and 297 days), Sam Curran (19 years, 363 days), Dom Bess (20 years, 306 days) and Mason Crane (20 years, 320 days).

Pope has had a stellar domestic season as he scored 684 runs at average 85.50 and is the second highest run-scorer in the County championship this summer. Additionally, he is also right-handed which is seen as a tactic to contend with Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who picked up seven wickets at Edgbaston.

Chris Woakes also returns to the squad in place of Ben Stokes while Moeen Ali remains in the squad as a second spin option.

Here’s the complete squad:

Joe Root (c), Moeen Ali, Jimmy Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Ollie Pope, Jamie Porter, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes