Joe Root left frustrated with England forced into late selection reshuffle

England will begin their series against India without a key piece of their top order after Zak Crawley's 'freak' injury

England cricket captain Joe Root (Pankaj Nangia/ Sportzpics for BCCI)

On the eve of the first Test, Joe Root has maligned the injury to Zak Crawley as “really frustrating” after the opener was ruled out for two weeks with a sprained wrist.

It was on Tuesday that Crawley slipped on a marble floor while leaving the dressing room at Chennai’s Chepauk stadium during training. A scan on Wednesday evening showed sufficient damage to mean he will play no part in the first or second Test.

Thus, England now have something of a selection conundrum on their hands. Crawley was due to drop down to number three with the return of Rory Burns. It is expected that the Dan Lawrence will keep his place in the XI and move up to bat at first drop, with Ollie Pope replacing Crawley and coming into a middle-order bolstered by the return of Ben Stokes.

Speaking on Thursday morning, Root, ahead of his 100th Test, was his usual noncommittal on the team he will lead onto the field. But he admitted to frustrations at the late change and the plight of Crawley, who was keen to find form after poor returns of nine, eight, five and 13 on the last month’s tour of Sri Lanka.

“It’s really frustrating and really frustrating for Zak in particular,” said Root. “A real freak incident where he was walking out the changing room, slipped over and landed on his wrist. Hard for him to take especially off the back of trying to get as best prepared as possible for this series.

“And of course it means we have to look at things from a selection point of view. As a more general thing, I think everything is on the table in terms fo selection. We’ll weigh everything up when we get to the ground. Look at the conditions, look at the surface again and try and have real clarity going into the game.”

Other options include Root himself moving up to three or Stokes, arguably England’s most technically correct batsman, assuming the role. But Lawrence, who started the year with 73 in his debut knock, and has performed at three for his county, Essex, would quell the knock-on effect Crawley’s absence might have on the rest of the batting order.

Indeed, their opponents should provide a source of inspiration for dealing with such a setback. India, after all, dug deep to seal victory in Australia, bagging a series 2-1 despite a spate of absentees. Many of those will return on Friday, such as skipper Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin (who missed the fourth and final Test). Root took the opportunity to encouraged his squad to do as India’s charges did and thrive off the opportunity that absentees bring.

“We should embrace the challenge, it should excite us. There's so many great opportunities that come with that, as a side and as individual players, when you are given an opportunity to play you just have to maximise that opportunity.

“One thing we've had in the recent past is that competition for places, a bit more depth within our squad and not such heavy reliance on certain individuals, which might have been the case a few years ago. It's really exciting times and guys have just got to really graps those opportunities if they get them.”

One remedy already in place is matting that has now been placed on the marble floor after towels were used as a temporary measure to prevent others from slipping over. Some players had come close to a similar fate before Crawley’s accident.

The surface of most concern now for Root is the one out in the middle. The pitch at Chennai, which will host the opening two Tests, had been talked up as having a green look coming into this week. Some of that, as expected, has been taken off. It is expected to be amenable to batting, as it was when England played the last Test at this venue back in 2016. India racked up 759 for seven on their way to an innings and 75-run victory.

“It’s not the prettiest wicket that I’ve ever seen,” said Root, who was able to get a look at what awaits England. “But we all know that doesn’t tell you a huge amount. History would suggest here that is going to be a good wicket for the majority of the game, spin will come into it.

“But there hasn’t been a huge amount of cricket over the last four or five years here, even first-class cricket in the last year and a half or so. I think it’s really important we go into the game with an open mind and play what’s right in front of us. That’s going to be a real key component of things, is making sure we adapt to what we see when that first ball comes down on Friday.”

Even with a lack of historic data to plan with, the prospect of Ashwin at his home ground is a very evident threat. Of his 612 first-class wickets, 81 have come at Chennai, at an average of 24, though only 13 of his 377 Test dismissals have come here.

He has not quite had the best of it in England, despite all nine Test encounters coming at home. His 42 scalps have come at 37.71 across nine Tests in 2012 and 2016. Root, however, off the back of averaging 104 in Sri Lanka, is wary of the threat posed by the 34-year-old.

“I’ve played against him before and scored some runs. He’s probably had the better of me a couple of times as well and it’s going to be a great little battle within the Test match so they’re the contests you want to try and get the better of but ultimately if you’re going to score big runs in any series you’re going to have to play all of the bowling well.”

England, meanwhile, are expected to name Moeen Ali and Jack Leach as their bowling options. Moeen missed the Sri Lanka tour after testing positive for Covid-19 on arrival but has built himself back up to fitness over the last couple of weeks. That will mean Dom Bess, who took 12 wickets in Sri Lanka, will be the one to miss out. That will be one of six changes that also includes the return of Jofra Archer.