England’s express pacer Mark Wood is not part of the playing XI in the IND vs ENG 2nd Test. Wood was replaced by veteran James Anderson in England’s playing XI for the second Test. In another change, Jack Leach was also removed from the XI after suffering an injury in the opening Test match. Uncapped spinner Shoaib Bashir has replaced Leach for the IND vs ENG 2nd Test.
It must be mentioned that Mark Wood remained wicket-less in the IND vs ENG 1st Test. The right-arm pacer bowled a total of 25 overs in the opening Test but failed to scalp any wickets. It looks like that the England camp has given rest to their express pacer for the IND vs ENG 2nd Test as they have recalled the veteran James Anderson in the squad.
Like Wood was in Hyderabad, Anderson is the lone pacer included in England’s playing XI for the second Test. It will be interesting to see how the 41-year-old pacer, who has 690 wickets to his name in Test cricket, performs against India.
England’s playing XI for the 2nd Test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett. Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes (WK). Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir. James Anderson.