Credit: ECB
On Monday, June 30, England announced their playing XI for the second Test of the five-match series against India at Edgbaston in Birmingham, which will begin in two days time, for the newly minted Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. The team led by Ben Stokes has no changes, despite the rumours of fast bowler Jofra Archer - who has been out of action in the longest format of the game for over four years - expected to make their playing XI.
After defeating India by five wickets in the first Test at Headingley in Leeds, chasing down a tough target of 371 runs, England will be looking to get a stranglehold on the series by winning the upcoming match. For that to happen, the likes of Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Harry Brook, and Joe Root have to keep their good form going with the bat, to put enough runs on the board in quick time, which will allow the likes of Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse, and Ben Stokes to play a key role in taking 20 wickets.
With the weather in the lead-up to the second Test in two days time expected to be quite hot, making the pitch conductive to spin at some stage, the England team management have decided to keep off-spinner Shoaib Bashir in the playing XI despite him being quite expensive in helpful conditions in the second half of the first Test. Josh Tongue, who was expected to get left out from the second Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham, keeps his place after helping clean up the Indian lower order quickly when the opposition were in a good position in both the innings in the first Test.
In their previous battle against India at this venue, which happened in 2022, England were able to chase down a 378-run target in the four innings while losing just three wickets, and Joe Root had made a big impact on the contest with a hundred. With a fantastic record against India at the Test level, the former England captain will be trying to keep the momentum going in the series.
England’s playing XI for second Test of five-match series against India:
Ben Stokes (c), Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook (vc), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir
