England set to play two spinners in 1st Test

Even as visitors India struggle to zero in on their frontline spinners for the first Test match, England have given strong indications of playing both Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali in the series opener at Edgbaston.

Even as visitors India struggle to zero in on their frontline spinners for the first Test match, England have given strong indications of playing both Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali in the series opener at Edgbaston.

While Moeen Ali seems an automatic choice because of his past record against India (19 wickets in four Tests in 2014) and batting abilities, former England skipper Alastair Cook gave strong indications of Adil Rashid being included in the playing XI.

"The way Adil has been playing and bowling for the one-dayers, it seemed quite an obvious selection. He has been bowling brilliantly,” said Cook.

A distinctively different English summer had given rise to speculations of dry, moistureless tracks which may assist the spinners more than the medium pacers. Even though the rains on Sunday brought relief, it was far from sufficient for the groundsmen to prepare a seamer-friendly track, prompting the English think tank to consider a twin-spin attack against India.

Rashid was selected for the first of five Tests against India despite quitting red-ball cricket ahead of the 2018 county season and having not played a first-class game since September.

The decision led to widespread debate over the last five days with former skipper Michael Vaughan and Nasser Hussian criticising the selectors' decision.

"In one sense, I feel a little bit sorry for Adil with all the political side of the selection, rather than looking at him," said Cook.

"He's gone away and worked really hard on his one-day skills and has been bowling brilliantly in the last two series. He's been selected to play for England, which is a huge honour, and all this other stuff has overtaken it.

"It's just because it's unusual, it's never really happened this way before. I don't think it will happen very many times again.

"Obviously, Ed Smith (chief selector) says he needs to be playing red-ball cricket [to be selected in future] and I think that's right. But sometimes in exceptional circumstances, selection goes a different way than you would like and obviously Ed and the selectors have made a brave call."

Cook feels the selectors were hard pressed as they didn't have many options at hand.

"It is interesting because it's so unusual with the history of Adil saying he's not playing red-ball cricket. But in the last couple of months, there have been some exceptional circumstances with a couple of the guys next in line, Jack Leach and Dom Bess.

"I played with him (Jack) in the Lions game, and he was probably a little bit short of match practice and that rhythm you need as a bowler. Dom is a very young spinner, right at the beginning of his career, so in one sense the selectors didn't have too many options really," he added.

The 33-year-old, who had resigned as England captain last year to pave the way for Joe Root, believes Rashid has matured as a cricketer and he will be able to cope with the situation after making a Test comeback.

"I think probably in the past Adil would have been (affected by this). Over the last 18-months, even though I haven't played with him but just watching how he's gone about his business in the one-dayers I think he's matured as a cricketer and improved since we last saw him in an England Test shirt," he said.

"I think he'll be fine. Clearly, he's going to be nervous because it's a bit of time away from the England team and with the circumstances. But I genuinely think he will cope and he's bowling really well."