WATCH: Team India Jets Off to Vizag For Second Test Against England, Receives Warm Reception at Airport

The Indian cricket team touched down in Vizag on Tuesday as it gears up to play the second Test against England, beginning in February at the Dr. Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy ACA-VDCA International Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. Rohit Sharma and Co are desperate to bounce back in the five-match series after losing the opening game by 28 runs in Hyderabad. Upon their arrival at the Visakhapatnam Airport, the Indian cricketers encountered a sea of fans, who were there to give them a warm reception.

Documenting their journey from Hyderabad to the southern part of the country, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared a video on X (formerly Twitter). “Presenting Sounds of Team India’s travel day! Hyderabad to Vizag,” the caption of the post read.

India’s playing eleven in the second Test will see some modifications as they are set to miss the services of two first-team stars – KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja. Both players have pulled out of the Vizag fixture due to injury issues. Jadeja picked up an unfortunate hamstring injury while attempting a quick single on Day 4 of the first Test.

The spinner all-rounder will now spend a few days at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, going through the recovery process. Meanwhile, Rahul, after the opening match was over, complained of experiencing pain in his right quadriceps, which led the wicketkeeper-batter to seek rest. On the other hand, Virat Kohli, who did not feature in the previous game, remains out of the squad for “personal reasons”.

The selectors have called up some emerging talents for the second Test against England to fill the vacant places of Rahul and Jadeja. Sarfaraz Khan has been roped in as a batting option at the top order. The Visakhapatnam-born batter has been waiting for his international debut for quite some time now and hopes to have the dream come true in his home city.

Rajat Patidar is also tipped to take the place of Rahul. Both youngsters demonstrated their class and quality in the concluded unofficial Tests against the England Lions. After Jadeja was ruled out, Saurabh Kumar and Washington Sundar joined the squad as the spinner options.

India made a promising start to the first Test in Hyderabad and mostly dominated the proceedings over the first two days. England came roaring back in their second innings on the back of a 196-run knock by Ollie Pope. India had to chase down 231 runs in the fourth innings but they surrendered early in front of debutant Tom Hartley, who ripped through the hosts’ batting unit to claim a seven-wicket haul.