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England head coach Brendon McCullum expressed that the England side wants to play against the best but the addition of new faces means more homework for them. Rohit Sharma-led India will be without the services of their prominent players Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, and KL Rahul. While Kohli had pulled out of the first two Tests due to personal reasons, Jadeja and Rahul got injured during the series opener. On January 29, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) added three more players to the squad including two who are yet to make their Test debut.
"Obviously, Jadeja and KL Rahul and Virat Kohli, he is obviously not playing the next game as well. You want to play against the best. But it's disappointing for the Indian side. But they have also got an incredible talent pool to pick from. So it becomes a bit more difficult, we will do our homework on them," McCullum said ahead of the second Test.
While Washington Sundar made a comeback to the Test squad, Sarfaraz Khan received his maiden call-up. Left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar had made it into India’s Test squad for their previous Sri Lanka tour but is yet to get his debut cap. Meanwhile, uncapped Rajat Patidar and Dhruv Jurel along with Kuldeep Yadav are waiting for their turn.
Will McCullum make any changes to England's Playing XI?
After a 28-run historic win in the Hyderabad Test, McCullum is yet to make a final decision on whether he wants to make any changes in the playing XI. Shoaib Bashir who was unavailable for selection due to visa issues is now available as well. Also, veteran James Anderson is warming the benches as well.
"We will enjoy where we sit at the moment and lap up the great experience we have had over the last few days and tomorrow we will travel to Vizag and once we get there, we will start to turn our attention to that game. And have a look at the conditions and make a call. You are not going to get every call right, especially in these conditions, it's hard to read some of these pitches, right?" McCullum said.
"But we will make a decision and we will try and commit to that and see where we land," the former New Zealand captain concluded.
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