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Former England skipper Joe Root has returned to the ODI squad for the first time in over a year as the England Cricket Board (ECB) announced the 15-man squad for the Champions Trophy on Sunday (Dec 22). Root will return to the 50-over set-up for the first time since the 2023 ODI World Cup, having been largely overlooked in the white-ball format. On the other hand, Test skipper Ben Stokes was omitted from the squad as he struggles with a hamstring injury sustained during the New Zealand series.

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Root returns, Stokes misses out

The 2019 World Cup winner has been an integral part of the Test side in the last few years but has been overlooked for white-ball tournaments. His last appearance came in the ODI World Cup in 2023, where England endured a tough run. However, Brendon McCullum’s side is in desperate need of a middle-order experienced campaigner, with Root fitting the bill.

 He has represented England in 171 ODI matches, scoring 6522 runs and playing a key role in the side’s success in the 2019 World Cup at home. He remains one of the best England batters of all time and, at the time of writing, has 52 international hundreds. In the Test set-up, he is approaching 13,000 runs as he chases Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time record for most runs in the red-ball format.

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Stokes left out of side

Another member of the 2019 World Cup-winning squad, Ben Stokes, was overlooked for the Champions Trophy as he struggles with a hamstring injury. The England Test captain came out of retirement to play the 2023 ODI World Cup with hopes of returning to the Champions Trophy squad.

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The same squad will also face India in a three-match ODI and five-match T20I series in the build-up to the Champions Trophy in January before travelling to neighbouring Pakistan.

England squad for IND vs ENG T20I series

Jos Buttler (c & wk), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith (wk), Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt, Mark Wood.