Captain Jos Buttler, Phil Salt, Will Jacks and Jonny Bairstow will make up the top four, followed by Harry Brook, who pulled out of the IPL after his grandmother died, at No 5. Jacks and Bairstow scored 41- and 45-ball hundreds this weekend, while Buttler has two centuries for table-topping Rajasthan Royals this season and Salt has been in blistering form at the top of the order for Kolkata Knight Riders.

The need for a left-hander to replace Stokes makes Ben Duckett the reserve batsman in the squad. Curran and Moeen could be promoted up the order to attack spin if a left-hander is required.

The squad named on Tuesday remains provisional, and can be changed any time before May 25, the date of the second of the four T20s against Pakistan.

England have confirmed that all those currently in India will return in time to face Pakistan, meaning they will not be involved in the IPL knockouts. It is possible that Buttler misses some of that series, because his wife is expecting their third child. This could see England add cover to the squad to face Pakistan if required.

Four members of the provisional squad – Salt, Jacks, Hartley and Jordan – are not on England’s list of 26 centrally contracted players, while the likes of Dawid Malan, Woakes and Atkinson miss out. All three were members of England’s squad for the doomed 50-over World Cup defence in the autumn, a tournament which means that head coach Matthew Mott goes into this campaign under pressure despite still being T20 World Cup champions.