Root to join England squad after birth of son

Joe Root is expected to be available for the opening ODI of the series between England and India after missing the start of the tour to witness the birth of his first child.

Root, England's highest rated ODI batsman (he is currently No. 7 in the ICC's rankings), is expected to fly to India on Wednesday (January 11) having been by his partner's side as she gave birth to their son. The rest of the squad flew to India on January 5, which was the baby's due date.

England play two warm-up matches in Mumbai on January 10 and 12 before the first ODI in Pune on January 15. While Root's plans have not been confirmed, the ECB hope he will be able to play in that second warm-up game and anticipate him being available for the first ODI.

Speaking at the Brabourne Stadium ahead of Tuesday's fixture, England's one-day captain, Eoin Morgan, confirmed that the plan was for Root to slot back into the starting line-up at the earliest opportunity, adding that England's itinerary in the coming weeks is sufficiently light to allow him plenty of time off before English season begins.

"Joe is probably one of three players first on the list to be rested if there is an opportunity," Morgan said. "We feel certainty given that this is a very short series and we have three weeks at home before the [tour of] West Indies, which is a bit of a light load of a series as well.

"We have about two-and-a-half weeks to play three or four games, and then the lead into our summer is pretty casual really, when you look at the international calendar and the opportunity for him to rest.

"I think the weigh-up for is international cricket over domestic cricket - the last thing we want to do is rest Joe in an international game and let him go back and play cricket for Yorkshire, feeling that pressure to play cricket for Yorkshire. So, there is always a debate between both, and we feel at the moment there is enough rest in between here and the Champions Trophy for him to feel fresh come the start of June."

Nevertheless, the lack of time available for Root to spend with his new family is symptomatic of the pressures created by England's busy schedule. Alastair Cook faced a similar journey in October when he flew back to England from Bangladesh to witness the birth of his second child, but was only able to spend a few hours with his family before re-joining the tour in time for the first Test.

England's schedule once the English summer gets fully underway is one of the most intense of all time - they depart for Australia and New Zealand in October and, for those playing all formats, will not return until April - therefore such journeys are likely to become the norm.