No Jofra Archer as England announce playing XI for ENG vs IND 2025 2nd Test in Birmingham

The England cricket team have named an unchanged playing XI for the second Test against Team India, starting on Wednesday, July 2, at Edgbaston, Birmingham. Notably, thus, Jofra Archer misses out.

Archer earned a return to the Test squad after bowling 18 overs for 32 runs and one wicket for Sussex against Durham in the County Championship Division One. The right-arm speedster was in line to play his first Test since 2021, but England have decided to go ahead with an unchanged playing XI.

Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse had contributed with both bat and ball in the opening Test in Leeds. Josh Tongue, meanwhile, took seven wickets to clean up India's tail quickly in both innings.

Archer's raw pace had rattled Australia in the gripping 2019 Ashes series. Having debuted at Lord's, Archer's pace troubled even Steve Smith and eventually finished the series with 22 wickets in eight innings at 20.27 apiece.

England playing 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.

"He's only just made his first-class comeback for Sussex" - Nasser Hussain on Jofra Archer

Nasser Hussain. (Image Credits: Getty)

Following the announcement of the right-arm speedster's inclusion in the Test squad, ex-England captain Nasser Hussain had warned that playing him at Edgbaston would be a massive risk. Speaking to Sky Sports, Hussain said he would wait until the Lord's Test. He said:

"I think it's too much of a risk this week but it may have gone so well - I don't know Jofra Archer's body - it may have gone so well that they say 'we'll play you this week'. Then the problem is who do you leave out?" I do think it is a gamble worth taking, I just don't know if it's worth taking this week. I would do it a week after at Lord's. He's only just made his first-class comeback for Sussex for four years this week where he bowled 18 overs."

Ben Duckett earned the Player of the Match in the first Test for his 149 that scripted a five-wicket victory for England.