England Announce Unchanged Playing XI for Second Test Against India

England have named an unchanged playing XI for the second Test against India, set to begin on Wednesday at Edgbaston, as part of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Despite initial hopes surrounding Jofra Archer’s return to red-ball cricket, the 30-year-old pacer will not feature in the match following his absence from training due to a family emergency.

Archer had been included in England’s 14-member squad, marking his first Test call-up in over four years. His selection followed a return to County Championship cricket earlier this season. However, his long-awaited comeback has been delayed yet again, much to the disappointment of fans and teammates alike.

Chris Woakes, England’s senior pacer, praised Archer’s resilience and hard-fought journey back to the national setup. “Brilliant for Joff, brilliant for us as a team. He adds a lot—not just as a player, but as a person and character,” Woakes said. “He’s had a tough road with injuries, and it’s a credit to him for getting back into this position.”

The unchanged England XI that secured a memorable win in the series opener at Headingley—chasing down a record 371-run target—will take the field again. Led by Ben Stokes, the side includes Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, and Shoaib Bashir.

Meanwhile, Jacob Bethell continues to wait on the sidelines, with Pope’s century and Crawley’s solid performance maintaining the top-order status quo. England’s director of cricket Rob Key had earlier suggested that Archer could play a role in the second Test, but with his absence, the team remains unchanged.

Looking ahead to Edgbaston, Woakes also spoke about the challenge of bowling to India’s vice-captain Rishabh Pant, who delivered twin centuries at Headingley. “Pant is unpredictable. He keeps you on your toes, and it’s exciting but also testing,” Woakes said. “Hopefully, we can get him out earlier this time. We’ll definitely have discussions about how to approach him and other batters better in this Test.”

Pant has built an impressive record in England, scoring 808 runs in 10 Tests at an average of 42.52 and a strike rate close to 70. With India’s top-order also featuring Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, and Yashasvi Jaiswal—all of whom scored centuries in the first Test—the visitors will be aiming to bounce back from their 1-0 deficit in the five-match series.

Squads for Second Test at Edgbaston

England XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir

England Full Squad: Ben Stokes (capt), Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes

India Squad: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav

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