(Cricket News) With Mark Wood expected to return to the starting XI on the green-tinged Rajkot pitch, England has reduced their squad for the third Test to 12 players. In the first two Tests, the tourists have only used one seamer, with Wood starting in Hyderabad and James Anderson replacing him in Visakhapatnam.

If England decides that the conditions will be better for seaming, they will field two quicks for the first time this series, with one of the three spinners from the second Test being substituted.

That would most likely be offspinner Shoaib Bashir, who made his debut in Vizag, which meant that Rehan Ahmed, the most recent England player to be affected by visa issues, would keep his spot.

Rehan was detained at Rajkot airport after England returned from their mid-series break in Abu Dhabi due to the fact that he only had a single-entry visa. Both Bashir and Rehan were born in the UK and have Pakistani ancestry.

Rehan and the rest of the traveling squad trained for the first time at the Niranjan Shah Stadium on Tuesday morning. A temporary solution was arranged by local authorities, and the ECB is hopeful that its oversight will be corrected within the next 24 hours to enable Rehan to play in Rajkot.

Following the practice, Ben Stokes strongly indicated that the issue would not impact the third Test, which starts on Thursday. “It is not a concern,” Stokes stated. “The guys who dealt with it at the airport did a really good job, given where we found ourselves. I am confident that will be sorted tonight or tomorrow.”

Left-arm spinner Tom Hartley has taken the most wickets for the team with 14, seven of which came in the second innings of England’s victory in the first Test. He has also contributed 114 useful runs down the order.

Rehan’s leg-spin has also been a significant factor against India’s batting line-up, with eight dismissals at 36.37. Like Hartley, he turns the ball away from their abundance of right-handers and offers something with the bat. Of the three spinners, Bashir seems the most likely to be left out.

Though Wood went wicketless in the first Test, he had his moments, and Stokes feels he could have more of an impact with Anderson alongside him. “The reasons why we would look at Jimmy and Woody would be I just like to have a point of difference,” he said. “And India is never a three-seamer option.” With Joe Root able to provide the offspin, Stokes will have a variety of options at his disposal in addition to Wood’s extra pace.

“Obviously with Woody’s pace, and if we go with two seamers again, it would give him a bit more rest as he was that sole seamer in the first Test. So managing his workload, if we go with two seamers, we might be able to get a bit more versatility and use Woody how we want to use him out here and not worry he is the only seamer.”

England will make a final decision on the playing eleven on Wednesday afternoon following India’s final assessment of the surface. They will also take into account how flat the pitch was when they were here last in 2016.

“I remember coming off [at the end of the match] thinking we have got them,” Stokes recalled. “And then we lost four-nil.” Virat Kohli’s side was set 310 in a minimum of 49 overs, an equation far too conservative for this England side. Stokes was one of six centurions eight years ago in a first Test that ended in a bore draw as India blocked out the final day six down in the fourth innings.

“We will never go to the grave not knowing if we could have done something a bit different. In those situations you have got to risk something if you want to get something,” Stokes said on the eve of his 100th Test cap. With the series well ahead of the series resuming, Stokes was enthusiastic about what his players could accomplish in 2024 overall.

One-one, in my opinion, sets up a good series. As I mentioned earlier, there is a ton of cricket left to play after this series, so try to enjoy each game and not get too caught up in trying to focus on each one. Instead, keep pushing things along.

“If we play cricket to the best of our ability or close to it, then we know the results will look after themselves. I think that is the most important thing for us over the next, certainly this year because we have a lot of games coming up.”

See more: Rehan Ahmed’s Visa Issues Resurface Ahead of 3rd Test.