Jasprit Bumrah OUT, Shardul Thakur dropped as India finalize pacers for 2nd Test against England

The India National Cricket Team has reportedly finalized their fast-bowling attack for the second Test against England at the Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham. They are currently trailing by 0-1 in the ongoing five-match Test series against England after a five-wicket defeat at Headingley.

Despite the defeat, the Indian think tank decided to stick with their plan, as Jasprit Bumrah has been rested from the crucial second Test against England as part of the workload management, as per RevSportzz.

Jasprit Bumrah rested, Shardul Thakur dropped from India XI for the 2nd Test at Edgbaston

It is being said that Akash Deep has replaced Jasprit Bumrah in India’s XI for the second Test at Edgbaston. Akash Deep joined Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna as the pace trio for the second Test match at Edgbaston, starting on July 2.

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In another key change, all-rounder Shardul Thakur is set to make way for young batting all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy in the playing XI. It seems that Kuldeep Yadav will have to wait for his chance in the ongoing five-match Test series in England.

Read Also: Gautam Gambhir punishes Yashasvi Jaiswal, takes ruthless call after his fielding errors in 1st Test

- Akash Siraj Prasidh your 3 fast bowlers locked for 2nd test
- No Bumrah
- NKR in place of Shardul
More to follow pic.twitter.com/FnOYp4nK4w

— Rohit Juglan (@rohitjuglan) June 30, 2025

No word on Kuldeep Yadav as India set to stick with same batting line-up

There were already calls for Kuldeep Yadav’s inclusion in the playing XI for the crucial second Test, but there is no word for the chinaman bowler from the Indian team management. Ravindra Jadeja is almost sure for the Edgbaston Test despite his poor outing in the first Test at Headingley.

It is being said that the batting line-up will be the same as the Headingley Test, with KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal opening, followed by Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, and Karun Nair. With Nitish Kumar Reddy’s entry, it remains to be seen where the youngster will be drafted, as he is also an explosive batter.

Reddy is likely to bat after Pant in the second Test against England. However, it will be interesting to see whether Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan will be retained after their miserable outings in India’s five-wicket loss to England in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy opener. But most of the batting line-up is expected to be unchanged for the Edgbaston Test.

BCCI backs Gautam Gambhir amid red-ball struggles

Meanwhile, Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir’s job is currently safe despite poor results in the red-ball cricket. It is being said that even if the Indian team loses the ongoing five-match Test series to England by a huge margin, the selectors and the BCCI are not in the mood to make any changes.

They have already lost the Test series to New Zealand and Australia, but still the selectors and the BCCI want to back Gambhir since the team is going through the transition phase and they don’t care about the outcomes, at least for some series.

A BCCI source was quoted as saying by InsideSport: “At the moment, Gambhir is doing a good job with a young team. In transition, you do not always get the intended results. Australia and England both struggled during their transitions. So, it’s premature to take a call on Gambhir. We still have four Test matches in England, and we are hopeful that we can turn things around. Beyond that, we will see. He (Gambhir) has the full trust of the board.”

Read Also: ECB exposed by India legend for using Pataudi Medal as damage control after Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy backlash