England have brought as many as four changes to their winning squad from the opening Test against India for the second Test which will be played from Saturday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

While Jofra Archer has been ruled out due to injury and Jos Buttler has left for England in accordance to England’s rotation policy, the ‘Three Lions’ have left out veteran speedster James Anderson and off-spinner Dom Bess as well.

“We have made four changes. I can name the 12 at the moment. Ben Foakes, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad and Olly Stone have come into the squad. It will depend on which four we play,” confirmed England skipper Joe Root while speaking to the media on Friday.

Root, who had scored a double century in the first Test in Chennai, also confirmed that Foakes will keep wickets as Jonny Bairstow will return to to the squad after the second Test of the four-match series.

“Bairstow will be available as a pure batsman…We are hoping that Archer can rest and be fit for the third Test (in Ahmedabad),” said Root.

The England captain, who scored a double century in the first Test, said that England are fortunate to have quality players to pick from as replacements.

While Moeen, Foakes and Broad come in, England will have to pick from Stone and Woakes. The latter gives an all-round option and also has the ability to reverse the ball. However, Stone is more or less a like for like replacement for Archer with his race pace.

Both Anderson and Bess had taken five wickets each in the first Test which England won by a massive margin of 227 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Meanwhile, England took a 1-0 lead against India on Tuesday in the four-match Test series at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Chasing a target of 420 runs, India were bowled out for 192 with Root being declared Player of the Match for his double hundred in the first innings.

The emphatic 227-run win over India in the opening match of the ongoing four-Test series has kept England’s hopes alive of making it to the World Test Championship final as they have now reached to the top of the points table.

England 12-man squad: Dom Sibley, Rory Burns, Dan Lawrence, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Ben Foakes, Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes, Jack Leach, Olly Stone.