India has come out to bat first in the second Test match at Edgbaston. England captain Ben Stokes invited the visitors to come out the bat after opting to bowl first again. After England claimed a crushing victory over India in the first Test match at Leeds, the Indian team is eager to bounce back at Birmingham. While the hosts made no change in their playing 11 from the first Test match, the Indian team made 3 crucial changes, one of which was the most surprising was benching their ace bowler and world number 1 in Test cricket, Jasprit Bumrah. Young gun Akash Deep replaced the Indian speedster. Let’s see how he has performed in the longest format of the game so far.
Akash Deep in Tests
Akash Deep will play his eighth Test match today at Edgbaston. Debuting for India in 2024 against a similar opponent, England at Ranchi, Akashdeep claimed 3 victories in the first innings, conceding 83 runs, and did not bowl in the second innings. This was also his best bowling figures in an innings. In his 7 appearances, Akash Deep has claimed 15 wickets at an average of 35.20. His best bowling figures per match are 3/63, which were against Bangladesh in 2024. It would be interesting to see if Akash Deep will carry forward the legacy of Jasprit Bumrah and play an important role for the Indian bowling arsenal.
Why Was Bumrah Benched?
India and England will play the third Test match of the series at the iconic Lord’s, which will be a series decider. Considering Bumrah’s workload management and earlier advice from specialists, Bumrah is expected to feature in just three matches of this crucial Test series. Therefore, to conserve Bumrah’s appearance for future games, he has been benched for the Edgbaston Test, where young gun Akash Deep replaced him.
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
England (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
Also Read: Why India’s Speedgun Jasprit Bumrah Out Of Playing XI After A Shameful Defeat At Headingley?
