England name squad for India tour, James Anderson left out from 16-man team

James Anderson, England's all-time leading wicket-taker has been left out of the country's initial 16-man squad for the upcoming five-match Test series against India, which starts on 9 November. The Lancashire bowler who missed two Test matches against Pakistan due to a shoulder injury will continue to undergo treatment for his shoulder.

In addition to Anderson, opening batsman Alex Hales has also been left out of the squad after deciding against travelling to Bangladesh for the Three Lions tour this month. Anderson, who has taken 463 wickets in 119 Test matches for his country, played a key role during England's 2-1 series win over India in 2012-13. The 34-year-old took six wickets in the third Test at Eden Gardens and also bagged the Man of the Match award for his efforts in the final Test at Nagpur.

England will also be without Durham pacer Mark Wood who sustained an ankle injury prior to the tour of Bangladesh, which means they have named an unchanged squad from the two Test series currently taking place in Bangladesh.

Stuart Broad, Jake Ball, Chris Woakes, Steven Finn and Ben Stokes will form the pace attack in the absence of the duo while Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali will lead the spin attack with Gareth Batty and Zafar Ansari set to travel as back-up options. Haseeb Hameed and Ben Duckett were retained in the squad while Gary Ballance who has struggled for form so far has been given another opportunity to impress the selectors.

The five-match India vs England Test series is scheduled to start on 9 November with the first Test taking place in Rajkot.

England squad for India Test series: Alastair Cook (c), Moeen Ali, Zafar Ansari, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Gareth Batty, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Ben Duckett, Steve Finn, Haseeb Hameed, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes.