IND vs ENG 2nd Test Live: Gill & Co. face selection dilemma; England lead series

England have announced an unchanged XI for the second Test. This means Jofra Archer’s highly anticipated return to Test cricket has been postponed at least until the third Test at Lord’s next week.

The team was confirmed two days before the match, continuing the trend under coaches Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, and follows their impressive five-wicket win in the first Test at Headingley.

Archer was in line for his first Test appearance since February 2021 when he was included in England’s 15-man squad for this match. Despite performing well in his first red-ball game for Sussex since May 2021 — bowling 18 overs and taking 1 for 32 against Durham — he will now likely wait for a potential comeback at Lord’s. With only three days between the end of this Test and the third, Archer could earn his 14th cap at Lord’s, where he made his debut in 2019.

His recent game at Chester-le-Street marked his return after a lengthy battle with stress fractures in his elbow and back. The 30-year-old’s inclusion signals significant progress, as he last played for England during the 2021 tour of India.

Archer was absent from Monday’s training at Edgbaston due to a family emergency but rejoined the squad on Tuesday. None of England’s non-playing members—Archer, Sam Cook, Jamie Overton, and Jacob Bethell—are expected to be released to play for their county teams in the current Championship matches, which started on Sunday.

England XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir

The warm summer that the UK has experienced could potentially level the playing field a bit for the team bowling first. The dry looking pitch has led India to suggest they will likely field two spinners.

However, despite this, Edgbaston hasn't been a particularly favourable track for spinners in recent years. Among the seven English venues that have hosted Test matches this decade, it ranks as the third-worst for both spinners and fast bowlers. While quick bowlers have taken wickets at an average of 30.00 here, spinners have struggled more, taking wickets at an average of 44.45.

At Headingley, the team batting second won for the seventh Test match in a row.

At Edgbaston, the theme is the same. The team batting second has won each of the last four Tests here. So if you were to go by history, the captain would win the toss and decide to field. The four wins here includes England's win over India in 2022, when they pulled off their highest-ever successful chase.

Much of India's selection process centres around the allrounder slot, which appears to be a competition primarily between Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy. During practice sessions at Edgbaston, Nitish was actively involved in the slip cordon, alternating with Sai Sudharsan at fourth slip and gully, after Yashasvi Jaiswal was shifted following multiple drops at Headingley. Meanwhile, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, and Gill maintained their positions in the region from Leeds.

Although ten Doeschate mentioned that the changes are aimed at building depth, he strongly suggested that Nitish's chances of securing a Test spot are increasing.

"He's [Reddy] very close to getting a game," ten Doeschate stated. "He was outstanding in Australia, joining the team and performing as he did. We felt that for the last match, we wanted to go with a bowling allrounder, which we believed Shardul was slightly ahead of on the bowling front. We're exploring ways to reshuffle the team so we can include a batting allrounder, and right now, Nitish is our top batting allrounder. So, I’d say he has a very good chance of playing in this Test."

Due to the patchy grass and dry surface with weather not helping, India are considering playing two spinners. So, one of Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar are expected to come in with Ravindra Jadeja for company. The final choice could hinge on the balance between attack and batting depth.

"It's just which two we play," ten Doeschate said. "And that goes back to juggling the batting depth. All three spinners are bowling very nicely. Washi is batting very nicely. So it's just which combination do we go with? The allrounder-spinner or the out-and-out spinner? And obviously you have to play the bowling allrounder again.

"So there are so many different variables. The wicket has got 11 mils [mm of grass] at the moment, 11 or 12, I can't remember which of the two, but it's quite grassy and patchy. It's quite dry underneath, but there's also rain forecast for Wednesday, so again trying to weigh up the two options of how we want to go attack-wise, but I'm pretty sure two spinners will play in this Test."

On Monday, India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said, "Bumrah is ready to play. It's how we manage these four Tests. So if we feel like there's value in playing him in this Test, we'll make that call at the very last minute. I'm talking about weather, how the pitch is going to play, are we better off holding him back for Lord's and maybe Manchester or The Oval? So it's all those factors, but you've seen him train yesterday, he trained a little bit today. It's not like he's not fit to play. It's just trying to fit those puzzle pieces to get the most out of what we know we do have from him."

"We also feel we can go 1-1 or keep the score at 1-0 without Jasprit, and then again, that's putting the eggs in the back end of the series," ten Doeschate said. "We're going to need him at some stage as well. You have got to decide when you're going to play your strongest suit.

"And that's what I was talking about the weather and all that, but we feel that whatever we put out there, we can compete in this Test match, and you know, we came pretty close without Jasprit in the second innings when he didn't get any wickets, and you can't win the Test series with just one bowler in any case, and the bowlers are very well aware they need to chip in with wickets. Sorry, I can't give you a more firm answer, but we'll work out in the next 48 or 24 hours how we're going to manage Jasprit."

England successfully chased 371 runs at Headingley, their second-highest Test chase, to beat India and lead 1-0 in the series. Ben Duckett's outstanding 149, supported by Zak Crawley's 65, laid a strong foundation for the chase. Despite initial resistance from the Indian bowling attack, England accelerated after rain delays, with key contributions from Joe Root and Jamie Smith in the final stages. England's openers built a solid start, with Crawley and Duckett forming a 188-run partnership. India fought back with Prasidh Krishna taking crucial wickets, but Duckett's near-century and aggressive play, including reverse-sweeps, kept England on track. The match culminated in England's victory, with Root guiding the final stages. The chase was characterised by resilient batting, strategic shot selection, and moments of dropped catches by India.

Brief scores: India 471 (Shubman Gill 147, Rishabh Pant 134, Yashasvi Jaiswal 101; Ben Stokes 4/66, Josh Tongue 4/86) & 364 (KL Rahul 137, Rishabh Pant 118; Brydon Carse 3/80, Josh Tongue 3/72) lost to England 465 (Ollie Pope 106, Harry Brook 99; Jasprit Bumrah 5/83, Prasidh Krishna 3/128) & 373/5 (Ben Duckett 149, Zak Crawley 65; Shardul Thakur 2/51, Prasidh Krishna 2/92) by five wickets