Jimmy Anderson, originally selected for the tour of Bangladesh but forced to withdraw, will not be fit for the first Test of the India leg of the tour in Rajkot on 9 November. He is still recovering from his shoulder injury and Alastair Cook confirmed that he may not even be in India by then.
“I don’t think he’ll be there for the start,” said Cook. “He might be ready to do some training. But he won’t be ready for the first Test match. He hasn’t yet bowled.
“I don’t know what’s happening - they will be making some decisions over the next seven days or so. I spoke to him last night and he is training well and in good shape physically.”
This is an obvious hindrance to the England camp. Cook has already outlined the plan to rotate his pace bowlers throughout the campaign given the intensity of England’s Test schedule over the next 62 days. Anderson’s absence will make that trickier.
Moreover in Rajkot it now seems unlikely that Anderson will be around to share his considerable expertise of bowling in the subcontinent. But Cook is confident the bowler will be available to play some part in the India series after having been ruled out since the end of the series in England against Pakistan.
“I think so,” he said. “You should probably speak to the medical team and Jimmy on that. He hasn’t yet bowled since, and that has been the problem in the past. However physically well he’s been in the rest of his body, it’s when he starts bowling. He’s making some really good strides and we’ll know more later on.”
The England team to face Bangladesh in the first Test on Thursday has still not been made clear and it seems likely a final decision will not be made until later on Wednesday.
