Buttler back to take over keeper duty
JOS BUTTLER will reclaim the gloves for Friday’s fifth and final Test against India as England bid to salvage a series draw.
Buttler missed the 157-run defeat at the Oval, which saw the tourists take a 2-1 series lead, due to the birth of his second child, with Jonny Bairstow keeping wicket.
Bairstow was previously playing in the team as a specialist batsman but is short odds to lose his place, given he is now vying with Ollie Pope, whose impressive first-innings 81 in the fourth Test should get him the nod at Old Trafford.
Vice-captain Buttler’s batting record in the series is far from great, with an average of 14.40 and top score of 25 in the first three Tests – Bairstow averages 26.28 in the series – but he has the full confidence of captain Joe Root.
‘Jos will be back and he will keep wicket,’ he said. ‘He is the vice-captain of this team, he is a senior player and he is integral to what we are about. I know his output in this series has not been as high as he’d like, or as we’d like, but we know what a great player he is and how important he can be to turning a Test.
‘I think Jonny knew exactly what the scenario was when he was given that opportunity to keep wicket last week.’
England must also weigh up whether to play two spinners for the first time this summer, at a ground known for taking turn. Jack Leach has been recalled to the squad but Root made it clear he would not leapfrog Moeen Ali in the pecking order.
Leach was England’s top wicket-taker in the winter, with 28 wickets in six Tests against Sri Lanka and India.
Root added Moeen is ‘our first spinner’ but said playing both ‘could be an option’.