India rest Bumrah as they look to level England series

BIRMINGHAM - India will try for a series-levelling win against England without Jasprit Bumrah after resting the world's top-ranked bowler from their team for the second Test at Edgbaston on Wednesday.

The tourists are 1-0 down in a five-match series after losing the first Test at Headingley last week by five wickets - a match where outstanding fast bowler Bumrah took 5-83 in the first innings but went wicketless in the second as England made light of chasing down 371.

Before the series started India said Bumrah, 31, returning from a back injury, would likely only play three of the five Tests in order to preserve his fitness.

The third Test at Lord's starts just four days after the scheduled end of the game in Birmingham.

But it seems India have made their task of achieving a first Test win at Edgbaston, where they have  lost seven previous matches out of eight with one draw, that much harder by omitting Bumrah.

"This is an important match for us, but third match at Lord's there may be something more in the wicket and we thought we'll play him (Bumrah) there," said Gill at the toss.

"This year has been a year of chaos. A lot of teams who haven't won a lot have won, so maybe that'll change fortunes for us (at Edgbaston)," he added.

India made three changes to the side beaten at Headingley, with Akash Deep given the unenviable task of replacing Bumrah.

Meanwhile pace-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy came in for Sai Sudharsan and spin-bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar took the place of the dropped Shardul Thakur.

Karun Nair, who batted at six at Headingley, was promoted to number three in the order.

England had already named an unchanged team on Monday, resisting the temptation to end fast bowler Jofra Archer's four years of injury-induced exile from Test cricket.

England captain Ben Stokes, as he did at Headingley, opted to bowl first after winning the toss at Edgbaston.

"We're going to bowl," said Stokes. "Overhead conditions are for bowling."

Before play started the teams lined up on the outfield for a minute's applause in memory of former England batsman Wayne Larkins, who died aged 71 on June 28, with the England team wearing black armbands as a mark of respect.

Teams

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wkt), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill (capt), Rishabh Pant (wkt), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZL), Sharfuddoula (BAN)

TV Umpire: Paul Reiffel (AUS)

Match Referee: Richie Richardson (WIS)