02 July,2025 08:23 AM IST | Birmingham | R Kaushik
India skipper Shubman Gill during a training session with teammates at Edgbaston, Birmingham, on Monday. Pics/Getty Images
Recent heartbreak and the weight of depressing history make for a double whammy for India, desperate to not fall further behind when the second of five Tests gets underway on Wednesday. As if their five-wicket defeat at Headingley last week, despite calling the shots for large pockets of first match, wasn't bad enough, India have a dismal record at Edgbaston - seven defeats and a draw in eight tilts.
It's against this not-so-encouraging backdrop that Shubman Gill must rouse his troops into battle all over again. This time, potentially without the ace in his pack, the peerless Jasprit Bumrah.
India have already used up one of the three trump cards available this series - their premier bowler has been pencilled in to play only three Tests - with little to show for it. Despite five centuries across two innings and a first-innings five-wicket haul for Bumrah, they were well beaten by an intrepid, adventurous England side that has reined in its bravado and are therefore even more dangerous for it. Now, they must find ways and means to keep Ben Stokes's men at bay on a surface that appears perfectly suited to their uninhibited approach to batting.
Bumrah bowled 43.4 overs in Leeds, par for the course considering the match went down to the final session of the last day, and has had a week to recover from his exertions. But his limited appearances in this series are less due to workload issues and more to manage a pesky back that has troubled him numerous times in the past. Specialist advice has earmarked playing three Tests as the optimal route ahead; it's far from ideal from a team point of view, but Bumrah's pre-eminence and the threat-perception that accompanies him means it's a trade-off India have grown to become comfortable with.
Even with Bumrah around, 20 wickets proved a bridge too far for Gill's beleaguered bowling attack. Without him, the onus on Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna is that much more pronounced. Siraj was distinctly unlucky not to finish with a bucketful of wickets in Leeds while Krishna's five wickets came at a heavy cost and an unflattering âeconomy' rate. Perhaps they will lift themselves in a bid to compensate for Bumrah's absence - as if that can ever be compensated for - but they will need greater support, something Bumrah didn't get in the first Test.
Logic will dictate a first Test appearance since last October of Kuldeep Yadav, the left-arm wrist-spinner, but that is no guarantee. Gill indicated on Tuesday afternoon that India will field a second spinner alongside Ravindra Jadeja, potentially at Shardul Thakur's expense, though that could also be Washington Sundar, who offers batting insurance. The debate over who will come in - Akash Deep, the uncapped Arshdeep Singh or batting all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy - if Bumrah doesn't play won't be settled until the toss on Wednesday.
England are clear about what they want and how to go about reaching their objective. They named an unchanged XI more than 45 hours before the toss, resisting the temptation to rush Jofra Archer back into the fray after four frustrating years marked by a litany of injuries.
