Former spinner Harbhajan Singh has picked the India playing XI for the crucial second Test against England. Team India will be desperate to bounce back in the forthcoming game after the embarrassing loss in the first Test last week.
England beat their fancied hosts by 28 runs to take the lead in the five-match series. The Rohit Sharma-led side was looking destined to win the series-opener after taking a big lead of 190 runs. In the second innings, the home side had England reeling at 163 for 5 before the visitors staged a remarkable comeback.
Ollie Pope’s brilliant knock of 196 runs helped his side post a big total of 420 runs to set India a target of 231 runs. In reply, India were bowled out for just 202 runs inside a day to concede the first game inside four days. Debutant Tom Hartley starred with the ball, taking 7 wickets with his left-arm spin.
Harbhajan Singh picks India Playing XI:
While India would have liked to have their strongest playing XI for the crucial Test, they will be without some key players. Apart from Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja will miss the second game as well after suffering injuries in the first Test. As a result, India will be forced to make at least two changes to their playing XI for the upcoming game.
And Harbhajan Singh has named the players he would like to see in the team. The India great said that uncapped Sarfaraz Khan should be handed his Test debut in the absence of Rahul while Washington Sundar should replace Jadeja. He also advised the Indian team-management to drop Mohammed Siraj in order to make room for left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav.
“I think Sarfaraz should be played at No. 5. He has been scoring a lot of runs in domestic cricket and even for India A in the matches against England Lions,” Harbhajan Singh said on his YouTube channel.
“In No. 11, it should be Kuldeep Yadav. He has the variations and he can also turn the ball in both directions. Recently, his performance was extremely good in the World Cup. If the team wants to add an extra spinner, the team should go with Kuldeep Yadav. If the wicket has something, play Siraj but if you think that it is a turning track, play Kuldeep as the fourth spinner,” he added.
Harbhajan Singh’s India playing XI for second Test match:
Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, Washington Sundar, KS Bharat, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav/Mohammed Siraj.
