Arshdeep Singh made Jasprit Bumrah the possibility of converting Indd vs England 2nd Test, Karun Nair and Sai Reformson Safe

Team India might make as many as three changes to their bowling lineup for the India vs England 2nd Test. After losing in Headingley, the visitor would want to level the 5-match series at Edgbaston. In the first Test, the burden of defeat largely fell on the bowling, including the selection of the fifth bowler.

Shardul Thakur out

We have learnt already that Team India is unlikely to select Shardul Thakur again. The all-rounder scored just 5 runs and took 2 wickets in 16 overs. The reason behind Shardul’s selection was to ensure there wasn’t a collapse at the end of the innings. But that’s exactly what happened in both innings.

His bowling wasn’t used much and when it was, Shardul didn’t impress. Kuldeep Yadav is piped to start in India’s XI in Birmingham, if the pitch is dry and flat like in Leeds, in his place. But this is likely the first change.

Arshdeep Singh for Jasprit Bumrah

According to CricBlogger, Jasprit Bumrah won’t play the India vs England 2nd Test. Since the rest period was 7 days, the ace pacer was expected to skip the Edgbaston Test. Arshdeep Singh is expected to come into the team for Bumrah. The left-arm pacer hasn’t made his Test debut but has experience playing in England via the County Championship.

Arshdeep has been practicing bowling in the nets with the old and new ball. He was also seen bowling with a ‘made’ ball, indicating that reverse swing might come into play in Birmingham. Since Arshdeep is India’s best available swing bowler in the squad, his selection in this case makes sense.

The last one is fitness dependent. It turns out that Prasidh Krishna might be carrying a slight niggle. In case he isn’t match fit, Akash Deep could very well take his place. This would mean only Mohammed Siraj and Ravindra Jadeja will retain their place.

Karun Nair & Sai Sudharsan to continue

As for batters, the Indian management will persist with Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair. The former scored 30 runs across the first Test on his debut but showed his ability in the second outing. Both his dismissals were rather soft, and it wasn’t as if one could find any technical deficiencies in his batting. The latter was perhaps India’s worst batter in Headingley, considering he entered on set platforms both times. But after his India A exploits, Nair will be backed.