London, Jul 17 (IANS): Fast bowler Stuart Broad was spared the axe while Tim Bresnan was recalled in the 12-member England squad for the first Test against India starting Thursday at Lord's.

Broad's match haul of 6/162, including 5/95 in the first innings in a county match against Somerset helped him to retain his place in the side. Broad had a poor Test series against Sri Lanka, bagging just eight wickets in the series, but has always enjoyed the support of Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower.

Broad now faces a stiff competition from Bresnan for the third seamer's role in the final eleven. Bresnan played a crucial role Ashes series at Melbourne and Sydney but after a successful winter was sidelined due to a recurrence calf injury.

"This is clearly a highly-anticipated series between two of the world's top Test-playing nations and I know the England team is certainly looking forward to the challenge of taking on the number one ranked team in Test cricket," said national selector Geoff Miller.

"Following the successful Test and ODI series against Sri Lanka we're pleased to be able to include Tim Bresnan in the Test squad after his excellent return from a calf muscle injury," he said.

Miller said that Bresnan adds the extra bite to English attack.

"Tim adds further bite to our pace attack along with James Anderson, Chris Tremlett and Stuart Broad, who has greatly benefitted from getting overs and wickets under his belt for Nottinghamshire during the week.

"Steven Finn has also benefitted from his time at county level in recent weeks and continues to press hard for Test selection. It's very pleasing to see the depth of quality around our bowling attack particularly with a challenging four-match Test series on the horizon," he said.

The squad: Andrew Strauss (captain), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior (wicketkeeper), Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett, James Anderson, Tim Bresnan