India’s team selection for the second Test against England at Edgbaston raised eyebrows. The visitors made three changes to the playing XI for the second Test, which kicked off on Wednesday (July 2).

Star pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been rested as part of workload management, and Sai Sudharsan and Shardul Thakur have been replaced by Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy, respectively.

As a result, three all-rounders – Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy – are featuring in the lineup along with three specialist bowlers – Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna.

The experts and commentators are particularly questioning the team management for resting Bumrah despite being 1-0 down in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. There were also murmurs of displeasure in most corners due to the non-inclusion of wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav.

Amidst criticism over team combination, India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has backed skipper Shubman Gill, saying that there’s no confusion in the side regarding the selections.

“I think he’s been amazing the way he’s batting. It’s just incredible to see him bat and as a captain also he’s been amazing. I think he’s very clear in his head what he needs to do with the team and we are very confident in what we are going to do. So yeah, we are just trying our best. There’s no confusion in it," Jaiswal told reporters after the close of play on Day 1 at Edgbaston.

Invited to bat first, the tourists reached 310/5 at stumps, with Gill (114*) and Jaiswal (87) being the standout batters.

Reflecting on his knock, the southpaw said: “I really enjoyed (batting). I was just trying to keep playing the session and trying to play the spell, and then when I thought ‘okay I can score runs and there is opportunity so I will go and I will try and score some runs’. That’s what I was thinking when I was batting and but initially when they were bowling really well with the new ball so and wicket was bit damp, I feel. I was just trying to play as much as I can that time."

Though Jaiswal was disappointed at missing out on another Test hundred, he wants to enjoy playing the game and not get focused on milestones.

“It is disappointing. But it’s ok. I think it’s a part of game as well as I just need to keep learning with what I do and with that I want to enjoy the game as well because in the end I feel that it’s just cricket and cricket is a wonderful game so I want to enjoy it as well," he said.

When asked what was going through his mind with England tempting him to play the pull shot with a leg-side field, Jaiswal replied, “I try to find a solution and what will be good in this situation. So, I just keep thinking about that. There will be (a)plan always. I just need to find what the (best) solution can be.

Ravindra Jadeja was batting on 41* alongside Shubman Gill when the first day’s play ended at Edgbaston.

“I think the situation is very nice and we ended up on a very good score today so I think we will be trying to keep playing as long we can and I think both the batsmen are doing quite a good job so I hope everything goes well," Jaiswal remarked.