England will take the field at Edgbaston on Wednesday with the same XI that beat India at Headingley, the selectors opting for continuity while Jofra Archer’s long-anticipated Test return is held over for at least another week.
Head coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes again named the side 48 hours out, a routine that has become their trademark. Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue remain the frontline quicks, with Ollie Robinson and Jack Leach completing the attack. Archer, included in the wider 15-man squad, stays on the sidelines after attending to a family matter on Monday.
England chased 371 to win the opener by five wickets, a result built on late-innings strikes that prised India out for 286 and 196. Tongue’s seven wickets, mostly lower-order, and Carse’s lively new-ball spells masked the fact Woakes picked up only one scalp. The Warwickshire man, on home turf for his fourth Edgbaston Test, is relaxed about that.
“It’s always good to get over the line and get a win,” Woakes said. “That does breed some confidence within the group to show that we’re doing some things right. We’re also a group that we know we need to improve. There’s areas that we did last week that we know we can do better. So yes, we’ll look at putting those things right.
“But certainly as a team, we’re pretty happy with how we go about things and the style of cricket and the brand of cricket we want to play. We know that that’s been successful over the last few years and we’ll stick to that. But there’s definitely still tweaks that we know we can do.”
Archer’s comeback had looked on after he sent down 18 tidy overs for Sussex against Durham earlier this month, his first red-ball outing since May 2021. The 30-year-old, restricted by elbow and back stress fractures for much of the last four years, will now target the third Test at Lord’s, starting just three days after Edgbaston finishes. The short turnaround may yet shape selection, with workload management high on the agenda.
Those not in the XI – Archer, Sam Cook, Jamie Overton and Jacob Bethell – will stay with the squad rather than play county championship cricket this week. England want all bases covered given the condensed schedule.
For India, the challenge is to convert strong positions into victories. Five first-innings hundreds at Leeds, two from Rishabh Pant, put them in charge before the collapse that opened the door for England’s chase. The tourists arrived in Birmingham on the back of an optional training day and are expected to name their line-up at the toss.
Edgbaston generally offers pace and bounce early on, with some abrasive wear later that could interest spinners. Cloud cover is forecast for the first two days, which might persuade Stokes to bowl should he win the toss – a scenario that would again test India’s top order.
Watching brief: key questions
• Can Woakes rediscover the nip and control that make him so effective at home?
• Will Tongue and Carse maintain the hostility that rattled India’s lower order?
• How will India’s bowlers respond after letting a 371-run cushion slip?
England know momentum can be fragile. The unchanged XI signals trust in players who delivered last week, but the Archer conversation will not go away. If the home side find themselves light for pace on a fresh Lord’s surface, the temptation to fast-track the right-arm quick will be strong.
For now, though, the plan is simple: same team, same intent, and, they hope, the same outcome.
