3 Changes India needs to make in its Playing XIs for the 2nd Test

As we all know, India faced a very close and disappointing loss to England at Edgbaston in the 1st Test match of the series. Although skipper Virat Kohli played a flamboyant innings of 149 runs, batting superbly with the tail after India were reduced to 217/9, the lack of support from other batsmen led to it going in vain and eventually, India's defeat. His heroics made the team score reach 274, just 13 runs short of England's first innings score of 287 and then the way the bowlers, especially Ishant Sharma bowled in the 2nd innings was outstanding.

However, there seemed to be some mismanagement on part of the captain and the team management when they decided to give Ashwin some time off the field. This was when England were reduced to about 90/7 and the young Sam Curran was batting. Being a left-handed batsman and someone who can bat (not a tailender), it was almost a no-brainer that the Indian off-spinner must have been persisted with. This resulted in two forty plus partnerships thereafter and the English posted a total of 180 runs while 100 was looking difficult at a point of time.

However, the main concern for India will be the form and shot selection of the batsmen. The way the top order and middle order of the Indian batting line-up failed in both the innings was appalling, to say the least. The very dependable Murali Vijay and the stylish KL Rahul failed to make a mark in either of the innings, one seemingly lacking confidence and another trying to play overconfident shots.

The number of problems India has to address at the moment is big and the immediate changes the side needs to make before the 2nd Test are:

#1 Pujara in place of Dhawan

Murali Vijay and KL Rahul have proven their worth over the years as technically sound and adaptable batsman, who can score runs at home as well as abroad, courtesy Murali Vijay's great records in Australia, South Africa, and England and KL Rahul's phenomenal records in West Indies and Australia.

Therefore, they both deserve to open in the swinging conditions of England, ahead of the poor overseas record holding Shikhar Dhawan. Dhawan may have been the most attacking opener among the three but he has never proven to be as dangerous outside India or the subcontinent.

This series should have been his last opportunity to prove himself as a Test batsman and now that he has failed in both the innings, it could be the end of the road for him as far as Test cricket is concerned. Someone like Prithvi Shaw or Mayank Agarwal, with good domestic and overseas List A records could be given a go as the third opener of the side.

Shikhar Dhawan as he edges the ball to the slips and gets dismissed

At number 3, it should be Cheteshwar Pujara, India's premier number 3 in the longer format of the game and his exclusion in the 1st Test itself raised several eyebrows. No matter how ordinary or poor his county stint may have been, Pujara has the numbers in South Africa, West Indies, and Australia. He has the temperament and technique to flourish as a Test cricketer and must be played on a regular basis.

Pujara playing County Cricket for Yorkshire Cricket Club

#2 Karun Nair in place of Ajinkya Rahane

India's go-to man in overseas conditions, Ajinkya Rahane is far from the player he once used to be. His technique seems deteriorated, his shots half-hearted, and his confidence is on the lower side. The way he had been playing at Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and West Indies was unparalleled and other batsmen used to look up to him but now, it's been a while since he's lived up to the expectations from him.

The dismal way he has performed against Sri Lanka at home and against South Arica in South Africa and then again his failure in the one-off Test match against Afghanistan in Bengaluru make one come to terms with the fact that the Indian team needs to look at possible replacements, most probably long-term ones.

Ajinkya Rahane's incompetence with the bat has gone on for a little too long

Karun Nair is a player one simply cannot overlook, owing to his fabulous domestic and List A records and the historic 303 not out. Being the only second player in the history of Indian cricket to slam a triple hundred after Virender Sehwag, Karun has proved that he is the 12th man to every Indian Test playing XI. Any drop in form or dip in performance by any player would directly mean a call for Karun to play. He has shown tremendous technique and temperament with the skills and mental ability to play long innings against the big names of International cricket.

The talented Karun Nair

#3 Kuldeep Yadav instead of Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav had a terrific IPL this year and has always been one of India's leading pace bowlers, comfortable with the new ball as well as the old ball, given his ability to reverse swing the ball. He has played all over the world and definitely is India's fourth best fast bowling option in Tests after Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami, but the inconsistency in his bowling was evident in the 1st Test, as he lacked control over the length and was often seen bowling at lines one does not expect or want a bowler to bowl in England. He failed to create pressure on the English batsmen, unlike Ishant and Shami, and bowled at a slower pace, something he is not used to bowling. He had been comfortable bowling at a good pace of 140km/h+ in the IPL, along with maintaining stringent lines and lengths, but he seemed a lesser penetrative and dangerous bowler in this match.

Umesh Yadav looked way less effective in the 1st Test

However, Kuldeep Yadav has been India's X-factor in this England tour, scalping wickets at regular intervals in the limited overs' series and also confusing the batsmen with his mystery spin. Someone who has been the X-factor against a side that is predominantly weak against spin definitely deserves to play.

Although Joe Root was last seen playing him easily and seemed to have decoded his mystery spin, there are a number of batsmen who were not part of the limited-overs' series' squads and would be facing Kuldeep for the first time. Not only that, several batsmen in the squad who did play the ODIs and/or T20Is could not play him well and were often beaten by his spin.

Given the way Ashwin has claimed wickets in the both the innings, going through the defense of Alastair Cook on both occasions, playing Kuldeep could prove to be a masterstroke. As the fast bowling department is being well managed by Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami and Hardik Pandya, it would be interesting to see if Kuldeep could bring his magic to the Test format as well or not.

Kuldeep Yadav has been extraordinarily successful in England so far