• Source:JND
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England vs India 2nd Test: The second Test between India and England kicked off at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Wednesday with the hosts opting to bowl first after skipper Ben Stokes won the toss.

While England fielded an unchanged playing XI, India made three changes in the side with the star pacer Jasprit Bumrah being rested to manage his workload. Skipper Shubman Gill mentioned that Bumrah will play the third Test at Lord's. India are already 0-1 lead in the five-match Test series, having lost the first match in Leeds by 5 wickets.

Ahead of the action, players of both teams were seen coming out wearing the black armbands on the first day of the match. It was done to pay tribute to the former England, Northamptonshire, and Durham cricketer Wayne Larkins, who sadly passed away on June 28. A moment of silence was also observed in the memory of Larkins, who played 13 Tests and 25 ODIs between 1979 and 1991 and hit the winning runs in England’s famous victory over the West Indies at Sabina Park in 1990.

ALSO READ: India vs England 2nd Test LIVE Cricket Score

India and England players also wore black armbands on Day 1, Day 3, and Day 5 of the first Test, which was played from June 20 to 24 in Leeds, in memory of the victims of the Ahmedabad plane crash, David Lawrence and Dilip Doshi, respectively.

ALSO READ: Why Jasprit Bumrah Is Not Playing For India Today At Edgbaston?

World No. 1 Test bowler Jasprit Bumrah, left-handed batter B Sai Sudharsan, and fast-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur are not playing in the 2nd Test for India. They are replaced by Akash Deep, Washington Sundar, and Nitish Kumar Reddy.

"Would've bowled first as well. If there's anything in the wicket, it's on the first day. Three changes - Reddy, Washi and Akash Deep come in. No Bumrah. Just to manage his workload. We did get a good break, and this is an important match for us. But the third Test being at Lord's, we think there'll be more in that pitch, so we'll use him there. We were tempted to play Kuldeep, but looking at the last match, our lower order didn't do well, so we decided to add some depth to the batting," Indian captain Shubman Gill said at the toss.


ENG vs IND Playing XI, 2nd Test

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

India: 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