A total of three changes are made for this Test.
The news from the match centre in Birmingham is that Ben Stokes has won the toss and decided to bowl first. This match marks India’s second Test out of the five-match series in England. During the coin toss, Shubman Gill mentioned some harsh changes made to the playing XI for India. Just after his debut Test at Headingley, the No.3 batter, Sai Sudharsan, has been dropped for the upcoming match at Edgbaston.
Earlier, India lost the first Test as England chased down 371 on the last day in Leeds. After Cheteshwar Pujara handed Sudharsan his maiden Test cap, the Chennai batter was out for a duck in the first innings. He followed it up with 30 runs in the second innings.
The first Test at Headingley was disappointing for the new skipper, Shubman Gill. The team aimed to take 20 wickets to earn a lead in the Test series. But they failed miserably due to the weak bowling lineup, especially in the second innings. In order to add to the effectiveness of the bowlers as well as add depth to the tail-end, the management has made three major changes for the Birmingham Test.
During the coin toss, the skipper said, “Three changes – Reddy, Washi, and Akash Deep come in. No Bumrah. Just to manage his workload.”
Jasprit Bumrah has expectedly missed out on this Test, and Akash Deep has replaced the ace pacer. On the other hand, the other two new changes are the inclusion of Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar in place of Sai Sudharsan and Shardul Thakur, respectively.
NKR is a 22-year-old batting all-rounder, known for his exploits Down Under in the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. He played all five Tests on his debut Test tour, making 298 runs across nine innings. His maiden century at the Melbourne Cricket Ground came when India were down to 221/7. NKR forged a 127-run partnership with Washi to propel India to 474. Reddy is also an added bowler with his right-arm medium-fast bowling. During the Australia tour, he picked up five wickets in 44 overs across five Tests. He can provide a fifth bowling option after Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, and Ravindra Jadeja.
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England (Playing XI): 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 (Playing XI): 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.
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