Who said what - top 5 experts who slammed India's team selection in ENG vs IND 2025 2nd Test ft. Michael Vaughan

The second Test of the five-match series between England and India got underway on Wednesday, July 2, at Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham. England fielded an unchanged XI, while India made three surprising changes that drew reactions from several experts.

Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was rested to manage his workload despite a seven-day break, while Kuldeep Yadav was left out in a bid to strengthen the batting lineup. Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, and Akash Deep were brought in, replacing Sai Sudharsan, Shardul Thakur, and Bumrah.

Sent in to bat, India had a fairly decent outing on Day 1, with Yashasvi Jaiswal scoring a composed 87 off 107 balls. Skipper Shubman Gill also stepped up, notching his seventh Test hundred—and his second in consecutive matches—remaining unbeaten on 114 off 216 deliveries. Ravindra Jadeja offered steady support with 41* off 67 balls, as the visitors ended the day at 310/5 after 85 overs.

Looking at the scoreboard, both sides would likely have been content heading into the dressing room, with the pitch offering minimal assistance to the bowlers. While there were moments of quality cricket, much of the spotlight remained on India’s playing XI. In this article, we take a look at five experts who criticized India's team selection for the second Test of the ENG vs IND 2025 series.

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5 experts who slammed India's team selection in ENG vs IND 2025 2nd Test

#1 Aakash Chopra

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra, speaking on his YouTube channel @CricketAakash, criticised India’s decision to leave out Jasprit Bumrah despite him being fully fit.

He pointed out that the management chose to rest Bumrah, believing the Lord’s pitch would offer more assistance to the bowlers and that England would likely prepare a drier surface—similar to the one used in the WTC 2025 final. The 47-year-old opined that not playing Bumrah, even after a seven-day break, made very little sense. He said:

"Jasprit Bumrah is fit, but we won't play him. We are 1-0 down, we are thinking about 1-1, but it would be slightly difficult to think about it with Bumrah, or the Lord's pitch would be better for Bumrah. How do you know that pitch would be better? A very dry surface might be provided, as it happened in the WTC final.”

"If you have shown your hand, that you won't play Bumrah here, but at Lord's, it's a greater incentive for England to prepare a pitch where Bumrah gets nullified. Also, would it not be better to move forward at 1-1 than 2-0? I am not saying that you cannot win the match with the XI you have played, but your best chance of taking 20 wickets, is it with Bumrah or without Bumrah? And even after a seven-day gap, if we're still hesitant to play him—saying he's available and fit, but tactically we've decided not to play Bumrah—I mean, that makes very, very little sense," he added.

Chopra also took issue with the decision to drop Sai Sudharsan, noting that both the left-hander and Karun Nair had delivered comparable performances in the first Test at Headingley. He said:

“You played Sai Sudharsan one match, made him bat at No. 3, and No. 3 has become a revolving door. Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill and KL Rahul have also played there, and you played Karun Nair at No. 3 here. If you see the first match, Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan had similar returns.”

"When you drop Sai Sudharsan after just one match, zero in one innings and 30 in the second innings, you said your earlier decision was wrong because you could have kept Karun Nair at No. 3 earlier also and played Nitish Kumar Reddy at No. 6. You gave the kid his debut and then dropped him without him doing a terrible job. Everyone won't score a century on debut,” he added.

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#2 Sunil Gavaskar

Legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar also expressed his surprise at Kuldeep Yadav’s omission, especially considering that the pitch could offer spin later in the game.

He further questioned the inclusion of Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy to strengthen the lower order, arguing that India had scored enough runs in the first Test, and it was the bowling unit that lacked penetration. Speaking on Sony Sports Network, the former India captain [as quoted by India Today] said:

"I'm a little baffled that Kuldeep wasn’t picked, because on a pitch like this, where everybody says there’s a little more turn. If your top-order batters are not giving you the runs you expect, then Washington at 7 or Nitish Reddy at 8 won’t necessarily fix that, because those weren’t the batters who failed you in the first Test."

"You scored 830 runs. You didn’t score 380 in two innings — it was 830-plus. That’s a lot of runs. So, where you needed strengthening was in the wicket-taking department, not so much in the batting," he added.

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#3 Ravi Shastri

Former India cricketer and head coach Ravi Shastri was left stunned by the decision to bench Jasprit Bumrah, particularly given India's recent struggles in Test cricket. Speaking on Sky Sports after the toss, the 63-year-old said that resting Bumrah despite a seven-day break was hard to comprehend. He said:

"I think Michael asked the question at the toss, if you look at the run India has had, this becomes a very very important Test match. You have lost three against New Zealand, three against Australia and lost the first Test match here. You have to get back to winning ways. You have the best fast bowler in the world and you make him sit out after seven days of rest. It's something very hard to believe."

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#4 Nasser Hussain

Former England captain Nasser Hussain, speaking on Sky Sports, remarked that India is going through a transitional phase, with stalwarts like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli having retired from Test cricket, Ravichandran Ashwin stepping away from international cricket, and Mohammed Shami sidelined due to injury.

Hussain criticized India’s decision to make sweeping changes for the second Test, calling it a sign of panic. He argued that the team had played quality cricket in the first Test and that the real concerns were their poor catching and lower-order collapses.

With Jasprit Bumrah now also rested, Hussain said this current side is a far cry from the formidable unit India fielded a year or two ago. The 57-year-old said.

“It's a change in era, isn't it? Obviously, you had R. Ashwin retiring, then you have Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami not being available and not quite fit enough to be on this trip. So, if R. Ashwin was here, he would have played as the second spinner, first spinner. Mohammed Shami, they missed that third seamer. It was a drop-off the other day at Headingley when they went from Siraj and Bumrah, the third seamer, let them down. Shami never lets them down. And that bowling attack that Kohli had and Rohit Sharma had to a degree, seamers were wonderful, backed up by wonderful spinners as well.”

“So, I didn't think there was a need to make so much panic that they have done because they played a lot of good cricket at Headingley, five hundreds, at times, you know, Bumrah was unplayable. It was the catching and the collapses, they were the two areas of concern. And the collapses they tried to put right by having batting depth without actually improving their bowling. Bumrah's going to be a long list I've just given you of people not playing. Now you add Bumrah to that as well, and this is way off the side they had a year or two ago,” he continued.

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#5 Michael Vaughan

Former England cricketer-turned-commentator Michael Vaughan also questioned India’s selection, suggesting they may have erred by not including Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, and Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI. The 50-year-old noted that England would be relieved not to face that bowling trio in the second Test. Speaking on Cricbuzz after Day 1, Vaughan said:

"When you look at no Bumrah, no Kuldeep, and no Arshdeep, you've got three bowlers that I am looking at that I'd like to have those three in my team. If you are not going to play Bumrah, you have got to play someone like Kuldeep. I would say that the England side are probably sat in their dressing room quite pleased.”

"I've been bamboozled by the fact that India have announced that Jasprit Bumrah is only going to play three Tests. Why would you tell England that he is only going to play three? Just don't say anything. If you are not going to pick him, that's fine. On the back of seven days off, on the back of India going 0-1 down, I thought he would have played here,” he added.

Meanwhile, the visitors will be aiming to post a big total on Day 2, with Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja still at the crease and Washington Sundar yet to bat.