Saqib Mahmood is all set to make his Test debut in the second Test match against West Indies, which gets underway on Wednesday in Barbados. Saqib will replace Mark Wood in the playing XI who suffered ‘acute pain’ in his right elbow during the first Test in Antigua.
Meanwhile, Ollie Robinson is understood to be given some extra time to recover from the frequently occurring back problems. The lanky pacer missed the opening contest and England team management are not taking any risks. Chris Woakes and Craig Overton, who struggled to create any sort of impact in the first Test match, will spearhead the attack once again.
Saqib is regarded as one of the finest bowling talents to have emerged from England in this era. Although he doesn’t clock excess of 145 kph as consistently as Wood, Saqib is still the quickest among the other English bowlers present in the squad. He can also extract the seam movement off the deck. Added to that, the right-arm fast bowler has an incredible control over the reversing old ball which could possibly make him a key weapon in Barbados.
Talking about his first-class career, Saqib has picked 70 wickets from 25 games at a very good average of 27.9 since debuting in the FC cricket for Lancashire in 2019. His continuous impressive performances earned him a national call-up as England started to look beyond Broad and Anderson.
Joe Root considers Saqib to be a really good bowling option to have in the side and also, the England captain has highly praised Saqib’s maturity as a fast bowler despite the latter not having a lot of experience in the international circuit.
“He’s a great option to take up our sleeve. He is very mature for a guy who hasn’t played a huge amount of international cricket. He has a real understanding of how he wants to operate,” Root said. “He’s been very impressive; he’s got a slightly different trajectory and will give us a point of difference. He’s done that when he’s played in other formats, he clearly has good control, especially if the ball moves with reverse swing,” Root further added.
This game holds significant importance for both the teams as they will look to win this Test to have an upper hand going into the decider at Grenada.