Day one of the second men's cricket Test between England and India at Edgbaston is underway, with England winning the toss and electing to bowl first. India trails in the five-match series 0-1 after a five-wicket loss in the first Test at Leeds.
Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bowl, citing favorable bowling conditions due to cloud cover. Shubman Gill mentioned that they would have also preferred to bowl first. India has made three changes to their lineup. Jasprit Bumrah is missing the second Test due to workload management, with Akash Deep replacing him. There are expectations of India playing two spinners, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar. Nitish Kumar Reddy is expected to replace Shardul Thakur as the third all-rounder. England, on the other hand, has retained their playing XI. The England XI includes Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue and Shoaib Bashir.
The Edgbaston pitch is expected to favor fast bowlers early on, offering seam and swing movement, before becoming more batting-friendly on days three and four. Spinners might come into play from Day 4 as cracks open up. The conditions are expected to be swing-friendly, with humidity adding to the potential for movement. There is 11mm of live grass on the pitch with a dry, firm surface underneath.
The weather forecast for Day 1 predicts cloudy conditions with a high chance of rain and thunderstorms. There is an 81% chance of rainfall during the day, with a 23% chance of thunderstorms. The weather may cause delays and interruptions to play.
Joe Root is 73 runs away from becoming the first batter to score 3000 runs against India in Test cricket. Root has scored 920 runs in nine Tests at Edgbaston, including three centuries and five fifties. He needs another 80 runs to become the first-ever batter to score 1,000 runs at this venue in Test cricket.
Edgbaston has been the most successful ground for visiting spinners in the 21st century. England have struggled against wrist-spin, averaging only 30.50 against it. Kuldeep Yadav has taken 19 wickets against England, averaging 20.6 with a strike rate of 36.0.
Chris Woakes opened the bowling for England. Yashasvi Jaiswal played all the deliveries in the first over, hitting a four off a back of a length ball. KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal are aiming for a solid start for India after being put in to bat.
Both teams are wearing black armbands. The reason for this has not been specified. The match is part of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025. It will be broadcast on the Sony Sports network, with live streaming available on JioCinema and Hotstar.
