All-rounder Moeen Ali has chosen to miss England’s final two Tests of the tour of India.
He returned match figures of 8-226 in the 317-run defeat in the second Test in Chennai, his first Test since August 2019.
The 33-year-old contracted coronavirus on the tour of Sri Lanka in January and spent 14 days in isolation.
“Moeen has chosen to go home. It’s come to a point where he wants to get out of the bubble,” said captain Joe Root.
“It’s obviously been a very tricky tour for him.
“We said at the start if players feel like they need to get out of the bubble that would be an option, and it’s important we stand by that.”
England have implemented a rotation policy to help manage players’ workload in a busy year that includes a possible 17 Tests and a Twenty20 World Cup.
They are also mindful of the wellbeing of the players with so much time spent in bio-secure ‘bubbles’ since the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes sat out the two Tests in Sri Lanka, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran and Mark Wood missed the first two Tests in India, while Jos Buttler returned home after the first India Test.
Moeen was recalled for the second Test at the expense of off-spinner Dom Bess, who had played in each of England’s previous nine Tests.
Moeen claimed 4-128 and 4-98, and his tally of 49 runs in the match was more than any of his team-mates.
“It wasn’t about us asking Moeen if he wanted to stay. It was a decision that he chose,” said Root.
“We want as many of the players to be available for as long as possible, but we also want them to be comfortable here.
“He feel he wants to be at home with his family and we completely respect that.
“This tour has been really difficult for him, dealing with Covid and being in his room for such a long period of time.”
While England have rotated players for Tests, their squad for the five-match Twenty20 series that starts on 12 March is full strength as Eoin Morgan’s side prepare for the T20 World Cup in India in October.
Moeen is in that squad and will also be part of this week’s auction for the Indian Premier League, which runs from April to June.
Moeen took a break from Test cricket in 2019 and struggled to regain his place before being recalled for the 2-0 series win in Sri Lanka.
The third Test of the four-match series starts on 24 March in Ahmedabad.
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