Mark Wood set to return to England XI for Rajkot Test, Shoaib Bashir expected to make way

Mark Wood is set to regain his place in the England XI after the visitors pruned their team to 12 for the third Test against India. On a green-tinged pitch in Rajkot, England are expected to alter their three spinner and one seamer approach that has been deployed so far in the five-match series.

In the first Test, Mark Wood played as the solitary seam-bowling option. He was replaced by veteran James Anderson for the second match. If England find the surface and conditions will be more suitable for seamers, they could shift to a two seamers approach with one spinner making way.

In such a case, Shoaib Bashir is reported to make way while Rehan Ahmed will keep his place in the lineup even though he’s hogged more headlines for his visa issues than his bowling efforts.

Unlike Bashir who missed the first Test after getting the visa later, Ahmed arrived in India on a single-entry visa. Upon trying to enter India for a second time, he was held and questioned at the Rajkot airport. However, the immigration officials showed leniency towards the case with England board now scrambling to get their logistics in order.

Ahmed and rest of the England squad trained for the first time at the Niranjan Shah Stadium on Tuesday morning. Ben Stokes later said the visa matter would not affect preparations for the third Test, which begins Thursday.

“It’s not a concern,” Stokes said. “The guys who dealt with it at the airport did a really good job, given where we found ourselves. I’m confident that will be sorted tonight or tomorrow.”

Though no decision has been taken towards which of the three spinners could miss out, Bashir seems the most likely. Left-arm spinner Tom Hartley is the visitors’ leading wicket-taker with 14, seven of which came in the second innings of England’s victory in the first Test. He has also scored 114 runs down the order.

Rehan has also made himself count with his legspin. He has taken eight wickets at 36.37. Like Hartley, he turns the ball away from many right-handers in India’s camp, and offers something with the bat.

Beyond the three spinners, England have also been able to rely on Joe Root to provide the offspin. In Rajkot, Stokes will have a variety of options, along with Wood’s extra pace. Although he went wicketless in the first Test.

“The reasons why we would look at Jimmy and Woody would be I just like to have a point of difference,” Stokes said. “And India is never a three-seamer option.

“Obviously having Woody’s high pace, and if we were to go with two seamers again, it would give a bit more rest to Woody as he was that sole seamer in the first Test. So managing his workload. If we were to go with two seamers, we might be able to get a bit more versatility and use Woody how we want to use him out here and not worry he’s the only seamer.”