The England team announced their 50-over World Cup championship defence on Sunday, with hitter Harry Brook replacing Jason Roy in the lineup.
Brook, who was not included in England’s preliminary World Cup roster, was selected in spite of a run of poor performances in the most recent series against New Zealand.
However, captain Jos Buttler has shown trust in the 24-year-old after he showed promise in the Indian Premier League and the Hundred, indicating last month that Brook’s door was still open.
Not only did Dawid Malan make the team, but he is a strong favorite to start the batting for England. Malan scored 277 runs in three One-Day Internationals against New Zealand to win player of the series.
Since Roy was out with a back injury, Malan started the batting against New Zealand. In 21 innings, the 36-year-old matched Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott as the joint-fastest Englishman to score 1,000 ODI runs.
England men’s national selector Luke Wright stated in a statement, “We have selected a squad we are confident can go to India and win the World Cup.”
We have a very talented bunch of white-ball players, as shown by their performances in the series victory against a formidable New Zealand side.
“Due to the group’s strength, we had to make some difficult decisions regarding elite players, which resulted in Harry Brook joining the team and Jason Roy leaving.”
In order to play more franchise cricket, Roy, a key member of the England team that won the 2019 World Cup, gave up his incremental contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in May.
Ben Stokes, an all-rounder and test captain for England, has also returned to the game after changing his mind about retiring from ODIs.
Stokes, who was a key player in England’s successful domestic 2019 season, hammered 235 runs in three innings against New Zealand to get warmed up for the World Cup.
Earlier this week, in the third match, it featured a knock of 182 off 124 deliveries, which stands as the greatest individual ODI total ever for England.
Despite being doubtful due to injuries, bowlers Adil Rashid and Mark Wood were included in the team.
When England plays New Zealand in a repeat of the 2019 final in Ahmedabad on October 5, it will be the first match of their World Cup defence.
The England team:
Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (captain),