The second Test Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series between Team India and England commenced today (July 2) at Edgbaston in Birmingham. The hosts currently lead the five-match series by 1-0 after a five-wicket win in Headingley last week.

English captain Ben Stokes won the toss in the Edgbaston Test and opted to bowl first. They went in with the same playing XI that won them the first Test. On the contrary, India rejigged their team with three changes, bringing in Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, and Akash Deep for Shardul Thakur, Sai Sudharsan, and Jasprit Bumrah.

The team management rested Bumrah to manage his workload, while Sudharsan and Thakur were dropped from the side. Fans observed the Indian team combination for the second Test after the toss and expressed disappointment over the team management’s decision to prioritize batting depth rather than reinforcing the bowling department with a wicket-taker like Kuldeep Yadav. Here are some of the memes on the matter:

“Hopefully Tatting depth does something, after we are done conceding 800 runs in an innings,” an X post read.

“We wanted to strengthen our depth in our batting”- Shubman Gill on choosing Washington Sundar over Kuldeep Yadav for 2nd ENG vs IND 2025 Test

Speaking after losing the toss, Shubman Gill opened up that he would have bowled first as the pitch might initially assist bowlers. He also revealed the three changes made to their playing XI from the previous game and mentioned that they tried to enhance their batting depth. Gill said:

“We would’ve bowled first as well. If there is anything on offer, it will be on the first day and first session. Three changes for us – Nitish Reddy comes in, Washington Sundar too and so does Akash Deep.

He continued:

“We were very tempted to play Kuldeep but in the last match our lower order failed so we wanted to strengthen our depth in our batting. This has been an year of chaos, may be that’ll change our fortunes at this venue.”

On resting their pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, Gill stated:

“It is to manage his workload . It is an important test match for us but we think that the third test match is at Lord’s where there might be more on offer.”

Do you think Team India management selected the right playing XI? Let us know your views in the comments section.

You can get live match updates of the Edgbaston Test here.