India take on England in the second Test as Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat first at the at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on February 2, Friday.
Rajat Patidar was handed India's Test debut while Mohammed Siraj has been rested from the second Test against England, as updated by the BCCI. Meanwhile, Mukesh Kumar replaced Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav has been included in place of Ravindra Jadeja in India's playing XI.
Rohit Sharma after the toss said,"We'll bat first. Looks a good pitch, the pitch will do its thing, we need to play good cricket. What happened in Hyderabad is history, we need to move on. We have spoken on things we need to do, now we need to execute on our plans. I thought we batted well in the first innings, but didn't have the same intent. Similarly, in the second innings with the bowl there was a brilliant knock by Ollie Pope. Injuries are part and parcel of the game, but that's why we have the guys sitting on the bench. Two forced changes - Jadeja and KL miss out, and Siraj has been rested. We've got Mukesh, Kuldeep and Rajat Patidar making his debut."
Meanwhile, England skipper Ben Stokes said,"Would have batted as well. It was a great last week, but we know India will come back hard. To come from behind like we did was very pleasing. We'll take the confidence from that, but new week now. It is an amazing atmosphere to play in for the boys. To get such an opportunity at the start of their career will do wonders for their confidence."
Pitch Report
The Visakhapatnam wicket looks like a beauty to bat on. All English fans would be smiling at that. The top layer in black soil, below is red soil. There will be turn but not too much on Day 1. Certainly a win toss, bat first kind of wicket. Both sides will play plenty of spinners but we expect the spinners to come into the contest later in the Test.
India's Playing XI
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Shreyas Iyer, Srikar Bharat(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mukesh Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav.
England's Playing XI:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes(c), Ben Foakes(w), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson.
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