ESSEX'S Ravi Bopara has earned a shock recall to England's team for tomorrow's first One-Day International against India in Rajkot.

The all-rounder, who has Indian ancestry, has been called into the side at the expense of Sussex's Luke Wright, who had started each of England's last 14 one-day matches.

Captain Kevin Pietersen explained that the 23-year-old Bopara deserved his chance.

"Ravi has earned his recall. He's been on the sidelines for a lot of the cricket we've played for the last however long," said Pietersen.

"He's a very quick learner, he wants to learn and he's also willing to ask questions.

"He's really impressed me in the short term I've been captain and also when I've played alongside him as a player "I'm a big Ravi Bopara fan on these wickets and we wanted to give him a go - I think he's so exciting."

Bopara played in only one of the five One-Day Internationals England played against South Africa in August, while he also sat on the sidelines to watch the final Test match against the Proteas and the Stanford Twenty20 for $20million in Antigua earlier this month.

Bopara will be joined in the England side by Stuart Broad, who came through a fitness test on a sore knee on Wednesday.

Fellow seamer James Anderson, who also missed the Stanford game, has also been drafted in at the expense of spinner Graeme Swann.