England will look to extend their lead over Rohit Sharma’s team in the second Test, which begins on Friday, February 2, at the Dr. Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. England leads the five-match Test series against India 1-0.
On Thursday, February 1, the visitors announced their playing XI, making a few changes to the team that won the first Test in Hyderabad by a margin of 28 runs. Shoaib Bashir, a young off-spinner, has taken Jack Leach’s place after the latter was forced to withdraw from the second Test due to a knee injury. In the first Test match, England’s lone front-line pacer was Mark Wood. The seasoned James Anderson has been selected in the starting lineup, and he has been given a breather.
Because of his Pakistani heritage, Bashir had trouble getting a visa; therefore, he was unable to travel to India with his colleagues. He became a member of the team after the first test started, and on Friday he will make his debut for his country. The 20-year-old will need to step up to take Leach’s enormous shoes since he has been England’s primary spinner in the longest version of the game for a considerable amount of time.
By the end of the second Test, Anderson would love to join the 700 club with his current 690 Test wickets. But given that the surface is predicted to benefit the spinners, it will be interesting to see how many overs he bowls.
After winning the first Test despite trailing by 190 runs in the first inning, the tourists would be optimistic about their prospects.
Ollie Pope was the hero of the show, helping England set a difficult goal for the hosts with his magnificent 196 in the second inning.
Due to injuries, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja, two of India’s more seasoned players, will not be available for the second Test. In order to get the series back to even, the younger members of the Indian team will need to step up.
England’s Test match playing eleven
Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes (WK), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson, and Zak Crawley
India
