England coach Trevor Bayliss today welcomed Ben Stokes back in the national team's fold after he was cleared of affray charges but said the troubled all-rounder is not assured of an automatic selection for the third Test against India.
Stokes was acquitted of affray at a trial in Bristol on Tuesday. Due to the trial, he had missed the second Test which England won by an innings and 159-run win at Lord's to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
"It's good to have him back around the squad. I'm happy for Ben that's all over. It was a collective decision (to bring him back into the side so quickly). It was basically thought that for his own wellbeing, it was good to get him back around cricket," Bayliss said.
However, the coach said Stokes is not assured of an automatic selection for the third Test starting here on Saturday.
"There's nothing automatic about selections and we'll see how he is mentally as well as physically. He hasn't played for a couple of weeks. He's been a guy that in the past who has been able to come in and perform without having played a lot of cricket. We'll take that into consideration.
"But also, sometimes it's a little bit like when someone gets injured, someone else comes into the team and does well, it's a bit difficult for that injured played to come back in. This is a similar situation. It's a difficult decision to make," he added.
Sam Curran was man-of-the-match in the first Test at Birmingham, while Chris Woakes, who replaced Stokes in the second Test, won man of the match at Lord's.
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Given the problem of plenty, Bayliss said whoever misses ought to consider himself unlucky.
"It's a good position to be in from that point of view. Whether he plays or not, we've got some guys in form in the team. It's going to be a difficult decision to make whoever misses out, whether it's Ben or someone else," he said.
"It's a position we've been trying to get into in the Test team for a while. The one-day team is a difficult team to select. The Test team, it's been difficult for other reasons. But we're starting to get some good young players into the team, which makes it a difficult job for selectors. Whoever misses out, whether it is Ben or someone else, they will be very unlucky," he said.
Bayliss said he was impressed by Root's captaincy as England managed to turn around their poor Test form against Australia, New Zealand and Pakistan.
"Rooty is only a very young captain, he hasn't been in the job long, and what you're seeing is a bit of maturity in his captaincy. Trying to find his way and make the right decisions as a young player, let alone as a captain, can be difficult and you're going to make mistakes," he said.
"I think the thing about Rooty's captaincy so far is that, when he has made a mistake - and you're going to make mistakes - is that's improved on that and hasn't made the same mistake again.
"I think he's a very positive captain but one that's still learning and learning very quickly. Cooky (Alastair Cook) was around for a long time and held the respect of the players in the team, was a captain of a different era so it's a bit hard to compare from that point of view."