KL Rahul perishes cheaply as he chops on off Chris Woakes on Day 1 of ENG vs IND 2025 2nd Test [Watch]

Team India opener KL Rahul was dismissed cheaply on the first day of the second Test against England after the visitors were put to bat first. Rahul, who scored a century in the second innings of the first Test at Leeds, failed to maintain his form in Birmingham.

Chris Woakes delivered a back-of-a-length ball on off as Rahul tried to defend it off the back foot. However, he played it very late, and the ball hit the toe end of his bat, rolling onto the off stump. Woakes took the hosts' first wicket as KL Rahul returned to the pavilion, scoring just two runs off 26 balls.

Watch the video of KL Rahul’s dismissal by clicking here.

Notably, England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bowl first in the second of the five Tests being played at Edgbaston in Birmingham.

Team India make three major changes to their playing XI

India captain Shubman Gill said that they made three changes to their XI. The team decided to rest Jasprit Bumrah, their pace spearhead, to manage his workload, replacing him with Akash Deep.

Additionally, Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy joined the team for the Edgbaston game, replacing Sai Sudharsan, the previous match’s debutant, and Shardul Thakur.

Speaking of the changes at the toss before the match, Gill said (via Cricbuzz):

“Three changes - Reddy, Washi and Akash Deep come in. 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.”

Further speaking on the team not including Kuldeep Yadav and adding Washington Sundar to the XI, the 25-year-old said:

“We were tempted to play Kuldeep but looking at the last match, our lower order didn't do well, so decided to add some depth to the batting.”