Birmingham: India’s bowling performance was under scrutiny after a disappointing performance in the first Test at Headingley. However, in the second Test, in the absence of their star pacer Jasprid Bumrah, the Shubman Gill-led side stepped up with the ball and delivered a phenomenal performance. In the first innings, six of England’s batters registered a duck, which is the most ever in England Test cricket history, while in the second, the hosts are once again put on the back foot.
The day started with India losing two quick wickets of Karun Nair and KL Rahul. However, since then, Shubman Gil took over and once again played a historic knock. The newly appointed India Test captain played a sensational knock of 161 runs to become only the second cricketer after Allan Donald to hit consecutive 150+ scores in a single Test match. He also stands second on the list of highest aggregated runs by a cricketer in Test cricket history.
The 25-year-old made 430 runs in the Test match, while Graham Gooch sits at the head of the table with 456 runs against India at Lord’s in 1990. On the other hand, keeper-batter Rishabh Pant supported Gill well, scoring 65 runs off 58 deliveries. The flamboyant batter smacked three sixes during his stay on the crease, and with that, he surpassed England’s Ben Stokes for the most sixes in Test cricket away from home.
The bowlers decimate England’s top order
England’s top order once again failed to deliver at Edgbaston. Zak Crawley departed for a duck after he nicked one to Sai Sudharsan at backward point. Ben Duckett showed some intent in the middle, but he too departed after scoring 25 runs off 15 balls. Akash Deep bamboozled him with an inswinger in the fifth over of the match.
Joe Root, who has been one of England’s best batters in recent times, flopped to get going, as the veteran departed after scoring only runs. It was once again Akash who picked up the wicket and put India in the driver’s seat. England tried to recover with a small partnership between Harry Brook and Ollie Pope to end the day. They finished with 72/3 on the board.
