Why is Jasprit Bumrah not playing in the 2nd Test: While England went into the IND vs ENG 2nd Test with an unchanged XI, keeping faith in the side that won them the first Test of the series at Headingley despite Jofra Archer being added to the squad, India rang in three changes to the side that had done well last week and kept the contest alive till England stormed in their fourth-innings run chase.
The difference in the number of changes both teams have made is a reflection of the balance of both sides. England have Ben Stokes as their fourth seamer, who was arguably their best bowler in Leeds, and also have batting depth with Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse at No. 8 and 9, both capable of scoring runs.
On the other hand, India have struggled with their balance in SENA countries recently. In Australia and now also in England, under coach Gautam Gambhir, India have tended to play safe with their batting depth by including bowling all-rounders who don’t really give much with the ball.
India played Shardul Thakur in the first Test and now have replaced him with Washington Sundar, not really a threatening bowling option in English conditions. This meant Kuldeep Yadav, a serial wicket-taker across formats, has once again been left out.
Also Read: IND vs ENG Live Streaming
But the biggest dent for India in their playing XI for the IND vs ENG 2nd Test is the absence of spearhead pacer Jasprit Bumrah.
IND vs ENG: Why is Jasprit Bumrah not playing in the 2nd Test? Shubman Gill confirms he will play in 3rd Test
Shubman Gill said that Bumrah has been rested from the second Test at Edgbaston due to his workload management. Gill confirmed that Bumrah will return to the side for the third Test, which will be played at Lord’s from July 10.
With only a three-day gap between the second and third Tests, India decided to play Bumrah in the latter fixture at Lord’s, where, Gill opined, Bumrah will get much more help from the pitch and conditions than at Edgbaston.
Jasprit Bumrah took a five-wicket haul in England’s first innings in Leeds but went wicketless in the second innings. It had already been announced by Gambhir that Bumrah would play three Test matches out of five Tests in this series due to workload management. After playing in the first Test, he has been rested from the second Test despite an eight-day gap between the two.
Gill said at the toss, “No Bumrah. Just to manage his workload. We did get a good break, and this is an important match for us. But the third Test being at Lord’s, we think there’ll be more in that pitch, so we’ll use him there.”
India also dropped Sai Sudharsan and replaced him with Nitish Kumar Reddy, who was India’s second-highest scorer in the Test series in Australia, including a terrific century at the MCG. It is a hard decision on Sudharsan, who made his Test debut in Leeds and managed scores of 0 and 30.
England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bowl first.
Teams:
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
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
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