India vs England, 2nd Test Playing XI: Axar makes Test debut; Siraj, Kuldeep come in

IND vs ENG, 2nd Test: Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel come in for Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar and Shahbaz Nadeem.

Captains Virat Kohli and Joe Root pose with the PayTM Test Trophy.

India will be without pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah in the second of four Tests, starting Saturday at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Captain Virat Kohli, while announcing the playing eleven during the toss ahead of the game, said Bumrah needed a breather keeping his workload management in mind.

"Jasprit Bumrah has been rested for this game. We need to manage his workload. Mohammad Siraj comes in for him and he brings good variety," Kohli said.

Meanwhile, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel also made the team as replacements for Washington Sundar and Shahbaz Nadeem. While Nadeem has been re-included in the standby list of players, Kuldeep with an ability to turn the ball either way, was brought in for Sundar, despite the Tamil Nadu all-rounder's consistent performances since his debut in Australia.

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Kohli said: "There is a reason why we played the combination in the last game because Axar was injured. Unfortunately, Washington even after doing well misses out. Kuldeep Yadav replaces him. Nadeem makes way for Axar."

England skipper Joe Root, on the other hand, having announced a 12-man squad on the eve of the match, said Chris Woakes will be missing out from the final eleven.

Ben Foakes, Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad and Olly Stone are in while Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Dom Bess and Jimmy Anderson are out.

Archer is nursing a niggle in his right elbow while Anderson has been rested as part of England’s rotation policy for senior bowlers.

Stone returned three for 29 in his only Test against Ireland in 2019 before a stress fracture of the back limited his appearances. Ali too is short on game time, having not bowled in red-ball cricket since an England intra-squad match in June 2020.

Foakes, who played his last Test against the West Indies in 2019, will keep wickets in place of Jos Buttler , who has returned home to rest.

India wins toss

The coin flip went in the host captain's favour and Kohli decided he will have a bat first.

"It's a good wicket. Day 1 is going to be good for batting. We expect it to slow down from Day 2 onwards. It's good toss to win, we need to put runs on the board," he said.