England gamble on Buttler to do ‘something special’

England have confirmed that Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes will return to the side for the third Test against India starting in Mohali on Saturday. Buttler comes in for Ben Duckett, who has been dropped, while Woakes replaces the injured Stuart Broad.

For Buttler it will be just his second first-class match since being dropped from the Test side against Pakistan in the UAE last year. He played once for Lancashire towards the end of 2016 season, having had plans to play Championship cricket earlier in the summer ended by a broken thumb.

“Jos is an extremely talented cricketer and we’ve all seen that in the one-day and Twenty20 format,” Alastair Cook, the England captain, said. “He’s right up there with the best short-form players in the world and he’s earned an opportunity to come and play here.

“It’s clearly not ideal because of circumstances and he hasn’t played a lot of red-ball cricket but sometimes when the pressure’s off and you just go out and play you can do something special.

Cook also said that using Buttler as wicketkeeper, and Jonny Bairstow as a specialist batsman after what has been a prolific year, was not discussed. “There was no temptation to give Jos the gloves back,” he said. “I think Jonny’s been outstanding and has settled in that role and done very well.

“But he had a glint in his eye when I said we’d like you to move up to five. It gives him more chance to bat. He bats at five and keeps at Yorkshire so he’s used to that role.”

Virat Kohli, the India captain, said he was surprised it had taken so long for England to bring Buttler back. “I was actually quite surprised to see him being left out after a couple of bad runs. I think he’s a very talented player and can do really well for …

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