Dan Lawrence to join England squad for India series as Brook returns home
London, Jan 21: Middle-order batter Dan Lawrence will replace Harry Brook in the England squad for the upcoming five-match Test series against India after the latter returned home because of personal reasons, the ECB announced on Sunday.
Brook had travelled to Abu Dhabi with the team for a preparatory camp ahead of the series, beginning in Hyderabad from January 25.
Lawrence, a 26-year-old from Surrey, will join the rest of his teammates on Monday before travelling to India.
"Harry Brook is set to return home with immediate effect for personal reasons from the England Men's Test tour of India. He will not be returning to India," the England and Wales Cricket Board said in a statement.
"The Brook family respectfully requests privacy during this time. In light of this, the ECB and the family kindly request the media and the public to respect their wish for privacy and refrain from intruding on their private space," it further said.
Brook made his Test debut in 2022 against South Africa while his last appearance in England whites was against Australia at the Oval in July 2023.
The 24-year-old Yorkshire batter has so far played 12 Tests making 1181 runs at an average of 61 with four hundreds and seven fifties.
Brook's impressive effort had helped England clean-sweep the series against Pakistan in late 2022. He was the Player of the Series after making 468 runs from five innings at an average of 93.60.
In comparison, Lawrence has made 551 runs from 11 matches at 29 with four fifties.
It's a bit of a puzzling selection too as Lawrence last played a Test in 2022, when he came out against the West Indies at the St George's Park.
Many were expecting that Keaton Jennings, though an opener, would get drafted into the squad in place of Brook.
Jennings had recently made a free-flowing 154 and a 64 for England Lions against India A in the first of the four-day unofficial Test' in Ahmedabad.
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AI, IndiGo, SpiceJet seek ATF price relief; say airline industry on verge of 'stopping operations'
Mumbai (PTI): Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet have told the government that the country's airline industry is under extreme stress and on the verge of "stopping operations", as they sought revision in ATF pricing and financial support.
The West Asia turmoil has pushed up oil prices, and airspace restrictions have increased airlines' operating costs, especially on long-haul routes. Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) accounts for around 40 per cent of a carrier's operational expenses.
Against this backdrop, the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) has written to the civil aviation ministry, seeking steps to extend the same fuel pricing mechanism uniformly across both domestic and international operations as was done in the past with the establishment of the crack band.
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With an unprecedented rise in jet fuel prices and exorbitant crack/differential between crude and ATF, the federation said the operation of airlines is being challenged in totality.
"... any ad hoc pricing (domestic vs international) and/or irrational increase in the price of ATF will result in unsurmountable losses for airlines and will lead to grounding of aircraft, resulting in cancellation of flights," the federation, which represents Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet, said.
"In order to survive, sustain and continue operation, we request your urgent intervention for immediate and meaningful financial support to tide over the current situation," it said in a letter on April 26.
Also, the airlines have sought temporary deferment of excise duty on ATF, which is at 11 per cent.
"With the abnormal increase in ATF prices from the pre-crisis period, adding rupee depreciation to the increased prices, the 11 per cent excise duty also increases manifold for the airlines and adds to the ATF price as a big impact on airlines," they said.
Last month, the government limited the hike in ATF price to Rs 15 per litre for domestic operations, but for international operations, the price rose by Rs 73 per litre.
The airlines said the situation has practically made international operations, along with domestic operations, completely unviable and resulted in significant losses for the aviation sector in April.
Seeking urgent intervention on the current ATF ad hoc pricing, FIA said the current situation is creating a severe imbalance in domestic and international operations and rendering airline networks unviable and unsustainable.
"The airline industry in India is under extreme stress and is on the verge of closing down or of stopping its operations."
The federation has pitched for a transparent pricing framework under the crack band mechanism (USD 12–22/BBL) that was implemented in October 2022, saying there was a fair and reasonable margin for Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).
According to FIA, the country's largest aviation hub Delhi has the second-highest value-added tax (VAT) of 25 per cent on jet fuel, while the highest rate is 29 per cent levied in Tamil Nadu.
"The other major aviation cities, viz. Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Kolkata range between 16 per cent and 20 per cent. These 6 cities cover more than 50 per cent of airlines' operations within India," the federation said.
