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India's head coach Gautam Gambhir, right, watches players train before the start of play on day one of the second cricket test match between England and India at Edgbaston in Birmingham, England, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)
When India picked the playing XI for the second Test at Edgbaston, quite a few questions were raised by the cricket pundits. However, India managed to thrash England by 336 runs in the end. The changes made were that Jasprit Bumrah was rested after the loss in Leeds, which did come to sharp criticism, and apart from that, Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy were brought into the side in place of Sai Sudharsan and Shardul Thakur.
Gambhir’s former Kolkata Knight Riders teammate Manvinder Bisla slammed Gambhir’s critics after the result. “Before the Test: @GautamGambhir messed up the XI. After the win: @ShubmanGill era begins. Narratives change faster than the scorecard. PS: Both are leaders – credit goes to whole team for this famous win,” wrote Bisla on X(formerly known as Twitter).
Bisla played one of the iconic innings in the IPL finals when he slammed 89 runs from 48 balls against Chennai Super Kings to help KKR win their maiden IPL title.
What did pundits say?
Tom Moody: “India’s selection for this test is baffling. No, Bumrah is one thing, but to only have 5 specialist batsmen is a gamble. The fixation on all-rounders who are there to offer depth with bat and ball has never worked. Specialists are always going to offer more over a test,” Moody posted on X.
Ravi Shastri: “If you look at the run, India has had, this becomes a very, very important test match. You’ve lost three against New Zealand, you’ve lost three against Australia,” Shastri told ‘Sky Sports’. “You’ve lost the first Test match here and you want to get back to winning ways. You have the best fast bowler in the world, and you make him sit out after seven days of rest, it’s something very hard to believe,” he said.
Michael Atherton: “If I had been in their shoes, it would have been Bumrah for the big game, can’t afford to lose this game. I would have picked Siraj, who I thought improved throughout that game at Headingley, I would have picked the left-armer, Arshdeep Singh, for swing and to create some footmarks by the right hander’s off stump for Kuldeep Yadav, who I would have also played, and also Ravindra Jadeja. I would not have worried too much about runs at No.8,”
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