IND vs ENG: England add second pacer for third Test in Rajkot, Shoaib Bashir dropped despite 4 wickets on debut

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IND vs ENG: England have added Mark Wood as the second pacer alongside James Anderson for the third Test against India in Rajkot from February 15. Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir has been dropped.

Mark Wood played in the first Test of the series as the only England pacer and bowled 25 across the two innings without taking any wicket. James Anderson replaced him in the second Test, and picked five wickets. This is for the first time in the series that England will play with two pacers.

Leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, who faced visa issues after landing in Rajkot from the UAE, has retained his place alonside left-arm spinner Tom Hartley.

England go into the Test with the series level at 1-1. The vistors won the first Test in Hyderabad by 28 runs despite conceding a 190-run first innings lead. India bounced back with a 106-run win in Visakhapatnam.

England took a mid-series break and flew to the UAE after the second Test. The visitors arrived in Rajkot on Monday, and trained on Tuesday.

Rajkot Test will be England captain Ben Stokes' 100th match in the format. In 99 Test matces till date, Stokes has scored 6251 runs at an average of 36.34, and picked 197 wickets at an average of 32.07.

"Every Test is just as important as the next one. Then there's the next one, which will be 101 - it's just one more," Stokes told BCCI ahead of his landmark Test.

"It's a sign of longevity, but 99, 100 or 101 doesn't make much difference. It's just a number. I don't want it to sound like I'm not thankful for the opportunities I've had, but with milestones, it's not done until it's done," he added.

England squad for third Test vs India: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes, Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, James Anderson