Former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu has expressed his displeasure at the tourists' playing XI for the second Test against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham. Sidhu opined that the three changes in India's XI reflects nothing but fear and expressed surprised at dropping bowlers for batting depth.
Bumrah is one of the players Team India has left out of the playing XI for the decisive second Test in Birmingham as Shubman Gill cited the fast bowler's management of workload. Additionally, B Sai Sudharsan and Shardul Thakur have been dropped for Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Explaining Reddy's inclusion, the 25-year-old stated that he has been brought in for an extra batting option.
Speaking on Star Sports, Sidhu said:
"Playing XI mein ek hee cheez reflect hui hai fear. Woh hai. England have conquered their fears. Chuthi innings mein 350, hum banaayenge Guru. Karke dikha dete hain. You are fearing your batting. That's why you are compromising on your bowling. Batting ko lamba karne ke chakkar mein, aapne best bowler - jo 5 wicket le sakte hain usko nahin liya. Maine kaha tha I will back this team. But I will not back a mindset that reflects fear."
(Only one thing has reflected from the playing XI and that's fear. England have conquered fears. If there's a score of 350 to be chased in the fourth innings, they said we will do it. You are fearing your batting. That's why you are compromising on your bowling. To extend the batting, you have not taken your best bowler - one capable of taking five wickets. I said I will back this team. But I will not back a mindset that reflects fear.)
Ben Stokes had earlier won the toss and opted to field first
England captain Ben Stokes has won the second consecutive toss of the series at Edgbaston, Birmingham and opted to bowl first. England resisted the temptation to draft in Jofra Archer and struck with an unchanged XI.
England playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jamie Smith(w), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.
Team India XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
