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India vs. England: Expected changes to India squad ahead of second Test against Three Lions

by Devesh Jaganath

image India vs. England: Expected changes to India squad ahead of second Test against Three Lions
India were left bewildered and disappointed after their first Test against England at Headingley last week, as they somehow suffered a five-wicket defeat despite largely controlling the match for four of the five days. Now 1-0 down in the series, India need to respond at Edgbaston, and here we take a look at the possible changes Gautam Gambhir may be considering.

Bumrah’s absence could prove costly for India at Edgbaston

After going 1-0 down in the five-match opener at Headingley, India will be hoping to level the series in Birmingham in the second Test, which gets underway on July 2 and will be covered by our experts in their in-depth cricket predictions. 

Gautam Gambhir would have left Leeds with mixed emotions, as his team somehow lost the match even though they were the better side for the majority of the contest, and they also became the first nation to suffer defeat after five centuries were scored by their players. 

Indeed, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul and skipper Shubman Gill all notched up tons in the match, while newly-appointed vice-captain Rishabh Pant produced sensational centuries in both innings, taking his tally of triple-digit scores against England to five, level with Virat Kohli. 

However, India’s bottom half collapsed in both innings, as they lost seven wickets for a mere 41 runs in the first innings, while the second innings saw them crumble from 334-4 to 364 all out after KL Rahul was dismissed by Brydon Carse. 

While Gambhir will certainly be asking for more from his tail-end, his major issue for the Edgbaston showdown is with the ball in hand, with Jasprit Bumrah likely to be left out of the squad as part of his workload management following injury. 

The world’s top-ranked fast bowler sustained a back issue during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the start of the year, which also forced him to miss India’s Champions Trophy triumph and the start of the Indian Premier League for the Mumbai Indians. 

Bumrah was excellent in the first innings of this series, notching up a stunning 5/83, and while the 31-year-old went wicketless in the second innings, he maintained an excellent economy rate on just 3.00, which was the lowest of any of the team’s five bowlers. 

India to field two specialist spinners for second Test?

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India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate mentioned in Monday’s press conference that the team is likely to change strategy in Birmingham, and while he did not reveal their exact plans, he did indicate that they may opt to send out two specialist spinners. He said: 

"There is a very strong chance of playing two spinners. It's just which two we play. And that goes back to the previous question about juggling the batting depth. All three spinners are bowling very nicely."

Ten Doeschate also hinted that Nitish Kumar Reddy, who was left out of the first match for bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur, could be given the nod this week, as he would provide additional reinforcement with the bat lower down the order, where the side struggled massively in Leeds. 

Meanwhile, the hosts, similar to the Headingley Test, went early with their team announcement, with Ben Stokes and co confirming an unchanged 11 to the one that stepped out in their first match. 

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