'England will be buoyed by Jadeja's absence', says Mark Butcher

Former England batsman Mark Butcher on Saturday said that Joe Root and Co. will be glad to know that Ravindra Jadeja has been ruled out of the first two Test matches due to thumb injury as the English squad have struggled while facing left-arm spin in Sri Lanka.

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Despite a clean sweep against Sri Lanka, the English batsmen found it difficult to bat against ner Lasith Embuldeniya who claimed 10 wickets in the second match at Galle.

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"Our batters had problems facing Embuldeniya," Butcher, who played 71 tests between 1997-2004, told Saturday's Times of India newspaper.

"England will be buoyed by Jadeja's absence. India possesses a world-class bowling attack but Jadeja adds a different dimension to it."

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Jadeja fractured his thumb while batting in Australia and Kuldeep Yadav's place in the playing XI is not certain as Ashwin will be leading India's spin attack against England.

England are expected to bring some changes in their opening pair after a poor display in Sri Lanka. Butcher feels Zak Crawley to make way for Rory Burns who is back from paternity leave.

"Burns and (Dom) Sibley should be opening in the first test.

"A left-right combination is handy and England will want to stick with them. If the two get off to a good start, the rest of the batsmen too will gain confidence," Butcher said.

Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes have arrived in India after being rested for the series in Sri Lanka. The trio (Archer, Stokes, Burns) have begun training at the MA Chidambaram Stadium after completing their quarantine period.

The full squad will train for the first time on Tuesday afternoon, a team spokesman said.

(Inputs from Reuters)