Published: Jul 01, 2022, 04:58 PM (IST)
Edited: Jul 01, 2022, 04:59 PM (IST)
India vs England, 5th Test, Edgbaston: Former England captain Michael Vaughan could not believe that India had left out Ravichandran Ashwin from the playing eleven for the fifth Test against England at Edgbaston. India decided to play an extra seamer along with Ravindra Jadeja as the lone spinner for the much-awaited Test match in Birmingham.
Vaughan took to Twitter to express his displeasure on India deciding to drop Ashwin and captioned the tweet as, “No @ashwinravi99 !!!! Ridiculous .. #ENGvIND.”
No @ashwinravi99 !!!! Ridiculous .. #ENGvIND
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) July 1, 2022
England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bowl first in overcast conditions at Edgbaston.
“We’re gonna have a bowl. We’ve done well chasing and it’s also to see how the wicket will behave. It’s obviously good to come into a new series so quickly. Gives us the opportunity to keep the momentum rolling. We’re going to keep the same attitude going,” said Stokes after winning the toss.
“It’s a good feeling (to be captain) and is a big privilege. Can’t get better than this. Excited and looking forward to this. Very happy with the preparation. Wanted to spend a lot of time and get used to the English conditions, as we came back from T20s. Happy with the preparation, now it’s for the mental side to take over. Four bowlers – myself, Siraj, Shardul and Shami along with Jaddu as the all-rounder,” said India captain Jasprit Bumrah at the toss.
India head coach Rahul Dravid was full of praise for stand-in captain Bumrah, who took over after Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the Test due to a Covid positive test result.
“I think he (Bumrah) is a very thoughtful individual, understands the game very well. Also he commands the respect of the team, which is very important as a leader. Bowling changes, field changes obviously will only get better with time. It’s a new challenge. It’s not easy for a fast bowler to captain, he’s got to think about his own bowling too,” Dravid told the host broadcaster.
