Ben Stokes has been added to England’s 15-man T20 World Cup squad, although he will miss the team’s seven-game tour of Pakistan before to the tournament. Chris Woakes and Mark Wood, two other World Cup picks, are among the prominent returnees in an expanded 19-player group.

While Moeen Ali is expected to captain the team in the opening matches in Pakistan while Jos Buttler recovers from the calf injury that prevented him from playing in the latter stages of the Hundred, both the Pakistan series and the World Cup campaign will be led by Jos Buttler. This will be England’s first trip to Pakistan since 2005.

As expected, Jason Roy, a key member of the team that won the 50-over World Cup at Lord’s in 2019 and advanced to the T20 final in India in 2016, is conspicuously absent from England’s roster for both trips. Although Jonny Bairstow was supposed to be Buttler’s opening partner, his spot in the team has been given to Lancashire’s first batsman, Phil Salt. Harry Brook of Yorkshire is also listed as a batting possibility; he played his first of four T20I matches this year in the West Indies.

Due to injuries and rotation, Stokes, Wood, and Woakes have combined to miss every T20 match this year, whether they were international or domestic. Despite this, the selectors have continued to trust in their expertise. After 18 months away from the T20I setup, Stokes, England’s Test captain who resigned from ODIs in July, will enter the World Cup build-up with his immediate focus being next week’s decisive third Test against South Africa at the Kia Oval.

Liam Livingstone and Chris Jordan, two additional members of England’s World Cup team, will also miss the Pakistan tour as they recover from ankle and finger injuries, respectively. However, both are expected to be healthy for the tournament in Australia, which begins on October 22 with a match between England and Afghanistan in Perth.

Wood underwent the second of two operations on the elbow joint in July after suffering an elbow injury during England’s Test tour of the Caribbean in March, but he expects to train with the Test team at The Oval this week as he continues his comeback. Woakes, on the other hand, has been hindered by ongoing knee issues in recent months. After only playing in one 2nd XI match for Warwickshire this summer, Woakes also had surgery in July in an effort to be ready for the World Cup.

Tymal Mills, who competed in the T20 World Cup in the UAE last year, is one of England’s three travelling reserves for the World Cup. To complete his recovery following toe surgery earlier this month, Mills will not go to Pakistan unlike his fellow reserves Liam Dawson and Richard Gleeson.

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England T20 World Cup squad:

Jos Buttler (capt), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

England T20I squad to tour Pakistan:

Jos Buttler (capt), Moeen Ali (vice-capt), Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Liam Dawson, Richard Gleeson, Tom Helm, Will Jacks, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Olly Stone, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Luke Wood, Mark Wood