Twitter Slams Gambhir, Shubman Gill As Sudharsan And Shardul Thakur Dropped For 2nd Test: The toss at Edgbaston surprised Indian cricket fans, as star fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been rested for the second Test. This comes even though the Indian bowling attack was heavily criticized after the first Test at Headingley.
Jasprit Bumrah Rested: A Strategic Call by Team India
There was a lot of talk about Kuldeep Yadav possibly playing, with many former Indian and international cricketers supporting his return to the Test team in England. However, the team management has stuck to their own plans and chosen Washington Sundar as the second main spinner instead.
Sundar comes in for Shardul Thakur in the playing XI. In another surprising move, young player Sai Sudharsan, who made his debut in Leeds, has been dropped to make way for seam-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy.
With Bumrah not playing, Akash Deep will lead the pace attack along with Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj.
Captain Shubman Gill explained their decision to rest Jasprit Bumrah, saying it was a planned move to manage his workload and keep him fresh for the rest of the series. “No Bumrah. Just to manage his workload. We did get a good break, and this is an important match for us. But the third Test being at Lord’s, we think there’ll be more in that pitch, so we’ll use him there.”
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Sai Sudharsan Dropped After Mixed Debut
Shubman Gill admitted he was tempted to include left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI. However, he explained that the lower order didn’t perform well at Leeds, so the team opted for players who could strengthen the batting depth.
“We were tempted to play Kuldeep, but looking at the last match, our lower order didn’t do well, so we decided to add some depth to the batting,” Shubman Gill further said.
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India has made three changes to their playing XI for the second Test against England, starting Wednesday, July 2, at Edgbaston. Sai Sudharsan and Shardul Thakur have been dropped, while Jasprit Bumrah has been rested to manage his workload.
England leads the series 1–0 after a five-wicket win in the first Test. Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bat first in Birmingham. India has included three all-rounders in the side, hoping to boost both their batting and bowling as they look to level the series.
India has made three changes to their playing XI for the second Test against England, starting Wednesday, July 2, at Edgbaston. Sai Sudharsan and Shardul Thakur have been dropped, while Jasprit Bumrah has been rested to manage his workload.
England leads the series 1–0 after a five-wicket win in the first Test. Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bat first in Birmingham. India has included three all-rounders in the side, hoping to boost both their batting and bowling as they look to level the series.
England has gone with the same squad for the second Test at Headingley, sticking with the team that won the first match in Leeds. Captain Ben Stokes will once again lead a settled playing XI.
Openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, who played key roles in the record 371-run chase on Day 5, keep their spots. The middle order of Joe Root, Ollie Pope, Harry Brook, and Stokes also remains unchanged, with Jamie Smith staying in the side as well.
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There were talks about Jofra Archer possibly returning, but England has decided to stick with the same bowling attack. The pace trio is unchanged, and Shoaib Bashir continues as the lead spinner.
Fans React Strongly to India’s Playing XI – Gautam Gambhir Is Getting Trolled
Meanwhile, fans on social media are criticizing Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill for dropping Sai Sudharsan.
Check out how fans reacted to India’s playing XI against England for 2nd Test match:
Why give a Test debut to Sai Sudharsan if he was going to be dropped after 1 match?? It's not like He is injured. pic.twitter.com/LlbdXBzTTJ
— Aditya Saha (@Adityakrsaha) July 2, 2025
Feel for Sai Sudharsan – he has been dropped after 1 Test due to team combination. pic.twitter.com/wxS8cZkE7m
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) July 2, 2025
-Sai Sudharsan dropped for no reason
-Kuldeep is yet to get a gameGambhir era not holding back 🥵 pic.twitter.com/SVYXj1dPkd
— TukTuk Academy (@TukTuk_Academy) July 2, 2025
You should be slapped if you drop a player after one bad game.
This is injustice to Sai Sudharsan.
No clarity on Karun Nair role as well.
Why so much panic after playing the first test well for the first 4 days!!
— Enaam (@iamenaam) July 2, 2025
After the retirements of Rohit, Virat, and Ashwin, a key question for the new India era – and the main skill needed from management – is how they blood youngsters into the Test team.
Anyway, 23 year old Sai Sudharsan has been dropped after one Test, where he batted first drop
— Ben Jones (@benjonescricket) July 2, 2025
Dropping Shardul Thakur is the biggest mistake India has made today. #ENGvsIND #TestCricket
— Rohit Ghosh (@rohitghosh123) July 2, 2025
Gambhir is a bloody fool. Karun ahead of Sai? No Kuldeep? Disgrace.
— Jaggs (@jaggstalkssport) July 2, 2025
THE NUMBERS 3 OF INDIA FROM BGT :
1st Test – Padikkal
2nd Test – Shubman Gill
3rd Test – Gill ( Dropped)
4th Test – kl Rahul
5th Test – Gill
1st Test – Sai Sudharsan
2nd Test – Karun Nair (Sai dropped)– It's Gautam Gambhir Era in test Cricket
— MANU. (@IMManu_18) July 2, 2025
They should've kept Shardul Thakur is what i feel.
— ²⁶⁹ (@PelDugaBC) July 2, 2025
Reddy isn't a bowling option at all. He'll mostly play as a batsman.
With Bumrah not there, they've yet compromised the bowling options
— pta_nahi (@sab_thik_hai) July 2, 2025
We need 20 wickets saar 🤡
Please saar 🤡 give us 20 wickets.Who you are playing Shubman = We are playing Washington Sundar because he can bat also. 🤡
Shubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir are Joker of highest level.🤡 pic.twitter.com/0VbufN8lrU
— Abhishek Kumar (@Abhishek060722) July 2, 2025
My thoughts on this awful team selection by Gautam Gambhir.
Even if India wins this test, it won't make the process right.
The future of Indian cricket team is fucked.
Gautam Gambhir is not only dumb, he's evil as well.#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/OtRtV4lSZq
— 𝘼𝙮𝙪𝙨𝙝 (@abasu4ever) July 2, 2025
For a guy who talks so much about taking 20 wickets, Gautam Gambhir doesn’t select attacks for it.#ENGvIND
— CricBlog ✍ (@cric_blog) July 2, 2025
Gautam Gambhir needs to be fired. Terrible coach
— Sank (@CricketIsSimple) July 2, 2025
https://twitter.com/Abhinav_hariom/status/1940242424967962983
India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
England (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jamie Smith(w), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir
