James Anderson returns as England name XI for Visakhapatnam Test

James Anderson vs Aus 2013. (Photo Source: Stu Forster/Getty Images)

England are 1-0 up in the five-match Test series against India and would want to double their lead when they take on Rohit Sharma’s men in the second Test at the DR. Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, starting on Friday, February 2.

The visitors have named their playing XI on Thursday, February 1, making a couple of changes to their side that won the first Test by 28 runs in Hyderabad. Jack Leach, who suffered a knee injury and was subsequently ruled out of the second Test, has been replaced by young off-spinner Shoaib Bashir. England played with only one frontline pacer, Mark Wood, in the first Test. He has been given a breather and the experienced James Anderson has been picked in the XI.

Bashir couldn’t land in India alongside his teammates as he had encountered difficulties in obtaining his visa due to his Pakistani roots. He joined the team after the commencement of the first Test and will now be making his international debut on Friday. The 20-year-old will have to fill the huge boots of Leach, who has been England’s frontline spinner in the longest format of the game for quite some time.

Meanwhile, Anderson currently has 690 Test wickets and would love to enter the 700-club by the end of the second Test. However, it is going to be interesting to see how many overs he gets to bowl, as the surface is expected to favour the spinners.

The tourists would be upbeat about their chances after they turned a 190-run first-innings deficit to emerge victorious in the first Test. Ollie Pope was the star of the show, as his epic 196 in the second innings helped England set a challenging target for the hosts.

India will be without experienced players like KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja in the second Test, as they have been ruled out due to injuries. The younger players in the Indian side will have to step up and try to restore parity in the series.

England’s Playing XI for second Test

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes (WK), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson