Former India spinner R Ashwin has revealed the changes he’d make in the India XI for the upcoming second Test against England that will be played in Birmingham from July 2nd onwards. India, despite scoring over 830 runs in the first Test in Leeds, lost the game by 5 wickets.
The beginning of India's tour of England has been uneventful. Jasprit Bumrah claimed five wickets, while their batters amassed five hundreds. Despite some outstanding individual performances throughout the competition, they lost in the end.
There were many errors. During his leadership debut, Shubman Gill excelled at the bat, but his on-field strategies were questioned. Up to eight catches were lost as a result of fielding errors. Although he received little to no assistance from others, Bumrah remained the pace attack's leader.
During the two innings, Bumrah bowled almost 45 overs, which was the second-highest total of any Indian bowler in the match. It exposed the team's overdependence on him once more.
There are many rumors that the 31-year-old would be rested for the second game in Edgbaston to manage his workload, since he is anticipated to play in three of the five Test matches during the trip.
But when India is behind 0-1 in the series, Ravichandran Ashwin is against giving his old teammate a break. The renowned spinner actually opposed making a lot of changes.
“First of all, after playing such a good Test, I’m not going to make three changes in the team. Considering we are 1-0 down, I would ask Jasprit Bumrah to play the second Test, try and get even in the series, and then he can take a break. There’s a considerable break between the 3rd and 4th Test, so he can take a rest then. I will just bring Kuldeep (Yadav) in and make no other changes," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Some former Indian cricket players have proposed benching Shardul Thakur in favor of Nitish Reddy, who had a strong performance during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, after the all-rounder had a forgettable batting performance and took two wickets near the end of the match on the final day.
However, Ashwin begged to differ and asked the question whether Nitish Reddy was good enough to be included as one of the top 6 batters.
“Nitish had a good run in Australia and an okayish IPL. Also, he only played the role of Shardul Thakur and did not bat in the top 6. He batted down the order. Would you play him directly in England as a top 6 batter? I’m not for it. If you make too many changes, the players would get the vibe that a loss would change things immediately. The batting was strong in the first Test, so I won’t make any changes. Instead, I will make just one change in the bowling,” he added.
The second Test will be played in Birmingham from July 2nd onwards.
