Follow UsStop all the speculations, India are without their star pacer Jasprit Bumrah for the all-important second Test against England, on July 2 (Wednesday) at Edgbaston in Birmingham. India have made three changes for the second Test, and despite that, there’s still no place for wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav.
"We were tempted to play Kuldeep, but looking at the last match, our lower order didn't do well, so we decided to add some depth to the batting," Indian skipper Shubman Gill said at the toss.
Kuldeep last played in England back in 2018, where he went wicketless after nine overs, conceding 44 runs. However, there was a shout of chance for the left-arm wrist spinner to be part of India’s playing XI, with India resting Bumrah.
There is a place for 28-year-old Akash Deep, who had picked up 15 wickets in seven Tests, averaging 35.20. The right-arm seamer played one Test against England, where he scalped three wickets in Ranchi, with an economy rate of 4.36.
On the other hand, Sai Sudharsan, who made his Test debut in Leeds, was dropped from India’s playing XI. The left-hander scored 0 & 30 in the first Test, and has now been left out for his state teammate, Washington Sundar. Sundar last played in Sydney, where he scored 14 and 12, and did not bowl a single ball in the entire Test.
It will be Karun Nair at No.3, and he will be up for the biggest challenge in his Test career. Nitish Kumar Reddy also returns to the fold, as the 22-year-old has been named in the XI instead of Shardul Thakur. The right-hander scored 34 & 42 in the practice game against England Lions, and picked up figures of 1/49 with the ball.
However, will he be a like-for-like replacement for Shardul? Only time will tell.
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