India trails 0-1 in the five-match Test series against England and has several key decisions to make before the second game at Edgbaston in Birmingham, starting Wednesday.
The primary concern for Shubman Gill and his team will be managing Jasprit Bumrah’s workload. Despite the eight-day gap between the first two Tests, deciding which two matches India’s bowling spearhead should play could prove crucial.
Regardless of Bumrah’s availability, India is likely to include Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI – he could be Gill’s most potent wicket-taking option. Going by Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir’s statements post the Headingly Test, India’s priority is to pick 20 wickets, which suggests Shardul Thakur might make way for Kuldeep.
Also read | Edgbaston pitch report, ground conditions; India win/loss record at Birmingham
If Bumrah is given rest, India could also hand Test debut to Arshdeep Singh – the left armer’s angle would add variety to the attack. One key takeaway from India’s tour of Australia is that the Gambhir-led management tends to opt for caution, so Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar could be drafted in to add batting depth.
The batting order is expected to remain largely unchanged, with Washington Sundar potentially replacing Karun Nair.
India’s probable XI for 2nd Test
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Karun Nair/ Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy/ Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Jasprit Bumrah/ Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj
England playing XI for 2nd Test
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir
ENG vs IND Dream11 Fantasy Team
Wicketkeeper: Rishabh Pant
Batters: Joe Root (c), Ben Duckett, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Zak Crawley
All-rounders: Ben Stokes
Bowlers: Brydon Carse, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav
Team Composition: ENG 5:6 IND Credits Left: 10.5
THE SQUADS
England: Ben Stokes (C), Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, and Jofra Archer.
India: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (wk/vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.
