London: Star batsman Kevin Pietersen has been rested while Ben Stokes was the lone new face as England today announced a 14-member squad for the five-match ODI series against India starting on September 3.
Pietersen was, however, named in the 13-member squad for the one-off Twenty20 International to be played at Manchester on August 31 with two uncapped players Jos Buttler and Alex Hales figuring in it.
“The 14-man NatWest Series squad (for the ODI series) will have Durham’s Ben Stokes, who made his international debut against Ireland in Dublin on Thursday, while Kevin Pietersen will be rested for the five-match series against India,” an England and Wales Cricket Board statement said.
“The decision to omit Kevin Pietersen from the One-Day squad is in line with our policy of sensibly managing player workloads and will give the opportunity to another batsman to test himself batting at number four,” it added.
National selector Geoff Miller said both the squads have a mix of exeperience players and youngsters.
“Across both squads we believe we’ve selected an exciting blend of experienced international performers along with some exciting young players with a great deal of talent. We will need to play a high quality brand of limited overs cricket against the World Champions India,” he said.
“We’re very excited to have included some bright young players in the form of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Alex Hales, all of whom have proved themselves domestically and will now be looking to successfully take the step up to international level.”
England had beaten India 4-0 in the Test series which concluded on August 21.
England ODI Squad: Alastair Cook (Captain), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Ben Stokes, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott.
England Twenty20 International squad:
Stuart Broad (Captain), Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Craig Kieswetter, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen, Ben Stokes, Graeme Swann. (PTI)