Leeds (England): The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced India’s squad for the second Test against India at Edgbaston. Star pacer Jofra Archer has made his return to the squad after a long wait. Notably, Archer played his last Test match against India in Ahmedabad in 2021. Since then, Archer has suffered multiple injuries and was out of the Test scheme of things.
He was out of action earlier in the year as well, for which the 30-year-old missed the Champions Trophy 2025. ECB didn’t want to rush him for a comeback, something they have done in the past, and triggered another injury. Even though there were plenty of doubts, Archer featured for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2025, but due to a thumb injury, he was ruled out of the fag end of the season.
Recently, the pacer played County cricket for Sussex, where he picked up one wicket, conceding 32 runs in 18 overs. He was also effective with the bat, scoring 31 runs. Since Archer showed progress in red-ball cricket and bowled long spells without any complaints, the team management decided to bring him back for the second Test against India.
England didn’t make any other changes to their squad. Archer is likely to replace Brydon Carse in the playing XI, and the rest is very likely to remain the same. In the first Test, the Ben Stokes-led side defeated India by five wickets and that will give them plenty of confidence before the second game, slated to begin on July 2.
England Men’s Test Squad: Ben Stokes (Durham), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Shoaib Bashir (Somerset), Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Brydon Carse (Durham), Sam Cook (Essex), Zak Crawley (Kent), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Jamie Overton (Surrey), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jamie Smith (Surrey), Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)
