One loss and boom — 3 changes like it's a game of musical chairs out there. The plan was to strengthen the bowling, but in doing so, they ended up chopping and changing the batting as well.
Remember, we told you Washington Sundar might sneak into the XI? Well, manifestation game strong — that’s exactly what happened.
Nitish Kumar Reddy also got his chance in the Birmingham Test. Honestly, after that impressive tour of Australia, fair enough. But the real question is — will his bowling actually be used effectively?
Now, time for a little reality check.
Yes, the lower order did collapse in one match, but your top-order batters scored 835 runs in the Leeds Test alone. So, what really went wrong?
Simple — apart from Bumrah, no one bowled like they meant business. And now, even Boom Boom Bumrah is being bubble-wrapped in the name of “workload management.”
Wouldn’t this have been the perfect time to unleash Arshdeep Singh and beef up the pace attack? But looks like Akash Deep got the nod — maybe because he can swing the bat a little too.
Also, Birmingham is known to assist spinners, yet Kuldeep Yadav still didn’t find a place in the XI.
And in the middle of all these combinations, one name quietly got axed — Sai Sudharsan. Sure, he didn’t impress in the first Test, but dropping a youngster after just one game? Bit harsh, isn’t it?
In any case, India clearly wanted a team full of all-rounders. But the real question is — how satisfied are you with these changes?
India playing XI for Birmingham Test:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
England playing XI for Birmingham Test:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jamie Smith(wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir
Also Watch: Stuck in a 10-year loop, can Edgbaston be a turning point for Team India?
