Huge blow to Ben Stokes' England ahead of Test series against India, star player doubtful for series opener

Earlier, Atkinson was expected to recover from hamstring injury ahead of the opening match of five-Test series but he is far away from it, as per a report by BBC. 

Injury list for England 

Atkinson adds to the list of injured England pacers. Mark Wood, Olly Stone and already ruled out of the series. Recently, Jofra Archer suffered a thumb injury while playing for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. He is unlikely to return to the red-ball squad as well. 

ALSO READ: Australia announce T20I squad for West Indies series: Fraser-McGurk dropped after poor IPL season, PBKS' Maxwell replacement set for debut

How other pacers have fared of late

In the one-off Test against Zimbabwe, the other pacers in the lineup were Samuel James Cook and Josh Tongue. Atkinson struck thrice, Tongue had two scalps whereas Cook claimed just one wicket. Skippper Stokes got three wickets as well. The only other pacer in the squad was Matthew Potts. In the third ODI against West Indies, Potts replaced an injured Jamie Overton and took two wickets. 

ALSO READ: 'You've made me wait 18 years to be able to lift you and...': Virat Kohli's jubilation-filled first Instagram post upon winning IPL 2025 final goes viral

Pacers who can feature in Test series 

Meanwhile, veteran pacer Chris Woakes is expected to return to action for England Lions against India A in the second unofficial Test starting June 6. Woakes is coming back from an ankle injury. The other pacer is Brydon Carse who claimed four wickets in the ODI series against West Indies. Both Woakes and Carse are capable of contributing with the bat as well.