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After going down by five-wickets in the opening Test at Headingley, Leeds, the Men in Blue are locking horns with England in the second Test of the five-match series at Edgbaston in Birmingham. While the Men in Blue will be hoping the level the series in Birmingham itself, before England takes a considerable lead, they will have a daunting task, with Jasprit Bumrah warming the bench.
As the two captains walked out for the toss, England skipper, Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bowl first. The decision from the English all-rounder came seeing the overcast conditions on offer on the opening day. “We're going to bowl. Overhead conditions favour it,” Stokes said at the toss.
Akash Deep replaces Jasprit Bumrah in India XI; Nitish Reddy and Washington come in
Shubman Gill, who was named India’s red-ball captain after Rohit Sharma’s retirement, when inquired of the team combination, confirmed three changes in the lineup. In a notable move, Jasprit Bumrah made way for Akash Deep whereas Nitish Kumar reddy replaced Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar walked in for Sai Sudharsan.
The decision to drop Bumrah came in order to manage his workload. “Would've bowled first as well. If there's anything in the wicket, it's in the first day. Three changes - Reddy, Washi and Akash Deep come in. No Bumrah. Just to manage his workload. We did get a good break and this is an important match for us. But the third Test being at Lord's, we think there'll be more in that pitch so we'll use him there. We were tempted to play Kuldeep but looking at the last match, our lower order didn't do well, so decided to add some depth to the batting,” Gill said.
England vs India second Test Playing XI:
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jamie Smith(w), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
