Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat first in the second Test against England at Visakhapatnam on Friday. India are without the injured duo, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja, whereas Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami are unavailable due to personal reasons and injury, respectively. (Streaming | More Cricket News)
Speaking at the toss, Rohit Sharma said, "We'll bat first. Looks a good pitch, the pitch will do its thing, we need to play good cricket. What happened in Hyderabad is history, we need to move on. We have spoken on things we need to do, now we need to execute on our plans. I thought we batted well in the first innings, but didn't have the same intent in the second. Similarly, in the second innings with the bowl there was a brilliant knock by Ollie Pope. Injuries are part and parcel of the game, but that's why we have the guys sitting on the bench. Two unforced changes - Jadeja and KL miss out, and Siraj has been rested. We've got Mukesh, Kuldeep coming in, and Rajat Patidar making his debut."
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Ben Stokes also added that they would have batted first.
"We would have batted as well. It was a great last week, but we know India will come back hard. To come from behind like we did was very pleasing. We'll take the confidence from that, but new week now. It is an amazing atmosphere to play in for the boys. To get such an opportunity at the start of their career will do wonders for their confidence. Two changes - Shoaib Bashir and James Anderson come in for Jack Leach and Mark Wood."
Speaking of the pitch, Eoin Morgan and Dinesh Karthik said, "The wicket looks like a beauty to bat on. All English fans would be smiling at that. The top layer in black soil, below is red soil. There will be turn but not too much on Day 1. Certainly a win toss, bat first kind of wicket. Both sides will play plenty of spinners but we expect the spinners to come into the contest later in the Test. The first two days certainly better for batting."
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Rajat Patidar, the India debutant, entered the match after hitting back-to-back centuries for India-A against visiting England Lions -- 111 in the warm-up and 151 and 4 in the 1st unofficial Test.
The 30-year-old has scored 4000 runs in 93 First-Class innings (55 matches) with 12 centuries and 22 fifties. A domestic heavyweight, the right-handed batter from Madhya Pradesh has been on the Royal Challengers Bangalore roster since 2021 in the Indian Premier League. He, of course, pipped Sarfaraz Khan into India's playing XI.
Shoaib Bashir, 20, was one of the three uncapped players named in the England touring team, alongside fellow spinner Tom Hartley and pacer Gus Atkinson. While Hartley played a starring role in his debut match in the first Test in Hyderabad, Bashir, of Pakistani heritage, was forced to navigate through diplomatic doors. The offspinner from Surrey has 10 wickets in six First-Class matches. Bashir only made his FC debut last year in June.
Teams:
India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Shreyas Iyer, Srikar Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mukesh Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav
England (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson.
