England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to bowl in the second Test of the series at Edgbaston, Birmingham. Stokes named an unchanged side for the second Test. Shubman Gill made three changes to the side. Akash Deep replaced Jasprit Bumrah in the side as the world no.1 Test bowler's workload has been managed.
"We're going to bowl. Overhead conditions favour it. Very good team performance last week, we're confident. You understand the conditions better as you go deeper into the Test. Brains and me and Baz are not three things you put together. Great run chase, great start to the series," Stokes said after winning the toss.
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In addition to Deep replacing Bumrah, the other two changes are Nitish Kumar Reddy replacing Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar for Sai Sudharsan. Karun Nair has been promoted to no.3, a position where he slammed a double century while representing India A against England Lions last month.
Gill was asked about Kuldeep Yadav's exclusion on a spin-friendly track. He said that Kuldeep could not get a place as India wanted to bolster their lower order.
"Would've bowled first as well. If there's anything in the wicket, it's in the first day. Three changes - Reddy, Washi and Akash Deep come in. No Bumrah. Just to manage his workload. Third Test being at Lord's, we think there'll be more in that pitch so we'll use him there. We were tempted to play Kuldeep but decided to add some depth to the batting," Gill said at the coin toss.
IND vs ENG 2nd Test Playing XIs:
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
Engand 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