England Test team coach Brendon McCullum has fired a warning at Team India as the two nations get ready for the second Test match in Visakhapatnam, starting on Friday (Feb 2). McCullum, who has revolutionised English Test cricket since taking over as coach in 2022, thinks his side is equipped to play an all-spin bowling attack which could put the hosts on the back foot. The English side is boosted by the arrival of Shoaib Bashir after visa issues forced him to sit out of the Hyderabad contest.

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McCullum to go all-spin?

“He comes into the calculations,” McCullum told New Zealand’s SENZ Radio. “If the wickets continue to spin as much as we saw in the first Test, as the series goes on we won’t be afraid to play all spinners, or a balance of what we’ve got.

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“We’ll have a look at conditions and make a call. You’re not going to get every call right, especially over here – it’s hard to read some of the wickets. But we’ll make a decision and go quids in on trying to commit to that. Then we’ll see where we land,” the former New Zealand batter added.

England made a sensational start to the five-match Test series against India after winning the Hyderabad contest by 28 runs on Sunday. Tom Hartley on debut scalped seven wickets in the second innings while Ollie Pope was on fire after scoring a match-winning 196-run knock.

England already have the spin trio of Jack Leach, Hartley and Rehan Ahmed and with the addition of 20-year-old Shoaib Bashir the spin attack will only get better.

India on the receiving end of injuries

While the visitors are on the rise, India are facing issues in both the batting and bowling departments heading into the second match. They will be without KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja, with both missing out on the Vizag game due to injuries. Washington Sundar and Sarfaraz Khan have been given SOS, but it is the former who could be preferred to replace Jadeja, while suspense continues over who will replace Rahul with Sarfaraz yet to play at the international level.

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