Stokes and Root have to stand tall for Cook

ENGLAND’S Test players will face a brutal physical and mental examination when they play seven Tests on the Sub-continent in the next ten weeks.

- Chris Stocks

The first two of those, starting in Chittagong on Thursday, might be a relatively gentle introduction against Bangladesh but then the serious business, five matches in close succession against a rampant India, begins.

It promises to be the toughest assignment any England team have faced in recent history, so over the coming months it is imperative that the team’s big players stand up to be counted.

Alastair Cook, England’s Test captain, is a proven performer in Asia, showcased by the three centuries that inspired his side to a memorable Test series win on their last visit to India in 2012.

Joe Root made his Test debut in the last match of that series in Nagpur four years ago and alongside Ben Stokes, the all-rounder who made his own debut in the heat of an away Ashes whitewash in 2013-14, England have two men who they will be relying on to back up their captain.

A Test squad that will initially be missing the injured James Anderson in Bangladesh, and perhaps the start of the series in India, is light on experience.

It means Root and Stokes become even more crucial members of an England team that in India at least could be forgiven for thinking they are on a hiding to nothing.

An illustration of England’s vulnerability is the fact a 19-year-old opener in Haseeb Hameed is expected to make his debut in Chittagong next week.