India vs England toss (Source:@indteamfc/X.com)
Ben Stokes, the England captain, has won an important toss in the second Test of the five-match series against India and has decided to field first. The English team is going with an unchanged XI and have decided to field because of the favourable overhead conditions.
India Go With Two Spinners, Kuldeep Continues To Miss Out
India, on the other hand, have made three changes to their XI. Jasprit Bumrah has been rested as expected while Shardul Thakur and Sai Sudharsan have been dropped. The likes of Akash Deep, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar have been drafted in.
The absence of Sai Sudharsan means that Karun Nair will bat at number 3 while Nitish Kumar Reddy will bat in lower middle order along with Washington Sundar. India have three frontline pacers and two spinners in their line-up, while England have gone with only one tweaker. Interestingly, Kuldeep Yadav who was expected to play as second spinner has missed out again with the management prioritising batting depth that Washington Sundar provides.
India vs England Playing XIs
India Playing XI : Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep
England Playing XI : Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir
The Indian skipper Shubman Gill also wanted to bowl first to exploit the conditions and so they would have to bat cautiously now to avoid major damage in the first half. England, on the other hand, would also be hoping for a better show by their bowlers. Chris Woakes picked only one wicket in the last match and the conditions at Edgbaston are likely to help him get back into form.
Overall, the first session would be crucial for both the sides and expect England to come out hard at Indian openers.
