The Indian cricket team is set to play its second Test match against England at Edgbaston, starting on Wednesday. The touring side is already one game down after their loss to England at Headingley in Leeds. Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Yashasvi Jaiswal scored centuries in the first Test match. This was the first time in Test history that a team had lost despite five centuries being scored.
Shubman Gill hasn’t started well as the captain of the side, but there were lots of positives to take from the first game. The batting came good as the top and middle order performed well with the bat and scored heavily. The one major concern for India will be the way the lower order is batting, as there were two batting collapses in the last game. One big loss for India will be Jasprit Bumrah not playing the game to manage his workload.
Here is the likely XI for India vs England
Top order- KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal
Veteran batter KL Rahul had a great start to the series against England, scoring a total of 179 runs. Rahul scored 42 in the first innings and followed it up with 137 in the second innings to give the much-needed control they wanted at the top of the order. Young batting sensation, Yashasvi Jaiswal, began the tour with his knock of 101 in the first innings and scored four in the second innings. Jaiswal is just 97 runs away from scoring 2000 runs in Test cricket and will want to achieve the feat at Edgbaston.
Middle Order – Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant
Young batter Sai Sudharsan didn’t have a great start to his Test career as he scored a duck in the first innings. The left-handed batter, though, did well to score 30 in the second innings to give glimpses of his batting talents. Shubman Gill scored a career-best 147 in the first innings in Leeds but was out for just eight in the next outing. Gill has to show more consistency with the bat if India is to make a comeback in the series. The best batter for India in the last game was Rishabh Pant with scores of 134 and 118 and becoming the first Indian batter to register centuries in each innings in England. The last time Pant played at this venue, he had scored a century and a fifty in the same game.
Lower-order Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Reddy
Making his comeback to international cricket, Karun Nair had a slow start to his second life as an India cricketer. The 33-year-old will hope to come good with the bat and prove a point as to why he was given a recall to the national side after eight years. Ravindra Jadeja scored 36 runs in the game and managed to pick just one wicket. Jadeja has to do more with the ball now that Ashwin has retired from international cricket and take ownership as the lead spinner for the team. Shardul Thakur’s twin failures mean that India will want Nitish Reddy to do what he had done on the Australian tour. Reddy had done well with the bat and also bowled a few overs. The youngster could be a handful on English tracks as the conditions could favour his swing and seam bowling.
Tail-enders – Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna
With Jasprit Bumrah out of the game, the task of leading the attack will be on Mohammed Siraj in the next game. Siraj picked up two wickets in the game but was expensive with the ball. Prasidh Krishna picked a total of five wickets in the game but was smashed for 220 runs from his 35 overs. The right-arm pacer has to work on his economy rate as well as his consistency in the second Test of the series. Finally, we could see Arshdeep Singh make his Test debut to replace Bumrah. This will be a great move since Arshdeep is a natural swing bowler, and the conditions could be helpful.
IND XI vs ENG
KL Rahul, Y Jaiswal, S Sudharsan, S Gill, R Pant, K Nair, R Jadeja, N Reddy, M Siraj, P Krishna, A Singh.
Disclaimer: This Exclusive News is based on the author’s understanding, analysis, and instinct. As you review this information, consider the points mentioned and form your own conclusions.
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