"I wouldn't be rushing Archer at this stage...": Former England cricketer David Gower
London [UK], June 27 (ANI): Former England cricketer David Gower has said that pacer Jofra Archer is being rushed into the Test set-up, and the team management should have seen him play three or more games for his county, Sussex, before taking him in the squad.
England announced the squad for the second Test against India, starting from July 2 at Edgbaston, with pacer Archer included in the team after over four years. England is leading the five-match series 1-0 following a five-wicket win at Leeds.
The 30-year-old right-arm quick returning to the England Test since February 2021 will be looking to add to his 13 Test caps at Edgbaston next week, as per an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) release. Archer has 42 wickets at an average of 31.04, with the best figures of 6/45. Archer played his first red-ball contest in more than four years earlier this week when he turned out for Sussex in their four-day match against Durham at Chester-Le-Street and showed glimpses of his best as he scored 31 with the bat and collected figures of 1/32 from 18 overs as the teams played out a draw, as per ICC.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, Gower said, 'You have got to face the facts that he has been injured, he has been operated on, the elbow has been troublesome.'
'He has played one game for Sussex and when you have had a fellow with that sort of injury history, in my book, you need to watch him or see him play three or four games maybe for Sussex and see how he is getting on to make sure that the fitness levels are where they should be, that there is no reaction to bowling 20 odd overs a day.'
'There is also the adage that you don't have to change a winning side. I would not be rushing Jofra in at this stage,' he concluded.
Other than that, the squad remains unchanged.
England Men's Test squad for 2nd Test: Ben Stokes (capt), Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.
Coming to the first Test match, India was put to bat first by England. Centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal (101), skipper Shubman Gill (147) and Rishabh Pant (134) pushed India to 471, with Ben Stokes being the leading bowler with figures of 4/66. England also delivered a fine reply with the bat, as a century from Ollie Pope (106) and fifties from Harry Brook (99) and Ben Duckett (62) pushed them to 465, giving India a slender six-run lead. Jasprit Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers, taking five wickets. India took a strong lead in the second innings, with centuries from KL Rahul (137) and Pant (118) taking them to 364. India led by 370 runs, but it was a lower-order collapse that prevented the lead from being even more massive. Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue took three wickets to stand out among bowlers. In the chase of 371 runs, England started off well with a 188-run stand between Zak Crawley (65) and Ben Duckett (149). However, a few quick strikes reduced them to 253/4, placing India in a balanced spot. However, Joe Root (53*) and Jamie Smith (44*) took England home, despite two wickets each from Prasidh Krishna and Thakur.Duckett took home the 'Player of the Match' award. (ANI)
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