After facing a crushing defeat from the hosts in the first Test match at Leeds, Shubman Gill and co. will try to nab the 2nd Test that is supposed to take place at Edgbaston, Birmingham. The Indians faced their first defeat by 5 wickets, where Ben Duckett emerged as the conductor for the side. Despite having 5 centuries in both the including, India could not claim victory over England. Team India is set for major changes, as told by Ryan Ten Doeschate, the assistant coach of the Indian cricket team.
“Bumrah is available, we haven’t taken the decision yet whether to pick him or rest him.” I am very sure 2 spinners are going to play. Yet to finalize which ones – all three are bowling well, Washi is batting as well.” NKR is very close to getting a game.” Ryan Ten Doeschate said in a press conference.
VIDEO | Indian cricket team's assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate said that Bumrah is available for selection in the second Test match against England at Edgbaston starting from Wednesday.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 30, 2025
(Full video available on PTI Videos – https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/ZPe0rViFzr
Shardul Thakur Out, NKR In
Indian lower middle order, including Shardul Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja, failed to create an impact, which has now created speculations around the medium pacer’s exclusion from the second Test. The speculations have ignited after seeing Reddy at the slips with Karun Nair, Sai Sudarshan, KL Rahul, and captain Shubman Gill. Shardul Thakur might be replaced by Nitish Kumar Reddy as the former did not perform as per the expectations of the selectors and coaches.
Thakur scored just 1 run in the first innings and went wicketless. In the second innings, Thakur failed again by scoring just 4 runs, but this time took 2 wickets. Nitish Kumar Reddy, who was benched for the first Test at Leeds, has a pretty decent record in the longest format of the game. While appearing first in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, NKR has a pretty decent record with both bat and ball in Test cricket. Reddy has a total of 264 runs in his Test cricket career. This also includes a century by the young lad against the fiery Australian pace bowling attack. In terms of performance with the ball, Reddy has managed to take 5 wickets.
Kuldeep May Get A Chance
The other change might include Kuldeep Yadav replacing speedster Prasidh Krishna, as signalled by the assistant coach. Ravindra Jadeja will continue to play, while the other spinner will be Kuldeep Yadav.
