Shubman Gill surged into the record books as ruthless India drew level at Edgbaston with mammoth 336-run statement victory.
England’s Edgbaston demolition by the hands of a resurgent India suggests this summer’s five-Test series will probably be the hosts’ hardest assessment up to now on home soil.
In yet one more run feast – 1,692 runs scored in all between the 2 sides, topping the record set at Headingley per week or so prior (1,673) – India’s fury with the bat and finesse with the ball overwhelmed Ben Stokes’ laboured England side.
With the hallowed turf of Lord’s beckoning, Cricket Paper author Mohan Harihar revisits the Edgbaston Test – India’s first win on the venue – and discusses six talking points and what they mean for each side moving forward.
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Stokes calls unsuitable on the toss
If Stokes’ decision on the toss at Headingley lit the fuse for questioning the tactic, his call at Edgbaston emphatically blew apart the foundations of one in every of Bazball’s fundamental tenets.
Once more opting to bowl first on a hot day and a flat pitch – perhaps flatter than at Headingley – India finished Day 1 on 310-5 before eventually being bowled out for 587.
At one stage England found themselves in a promising position to salvage some respectability following the contentious decision on the toss, reducing India to 211-5.
Nevertheless, a ruthless 203-run stand between Gill and Ravindra Jadeja, followed by a 144-run partnership between the skipper and Washington Sundar, shattered any hope of vindicating Stokes’ decision to bowl first.
Coach Brendon McCullum later conceded: ‘I feel as the sport unfolded we probably looked back on that toss and said ‘did we miss a possibility there?’ and it’s probably fair.’
The hubris of Stokes and his insistence on chasing on such pitches – along with squirming at any notion of a draw – was becoming more precarious with every outing. At Edgbaston, it reached its tipping point.
Fans of Bazball have been thrilled by the highs accompanying this philosophy; only per week prior were the heroics of Ben Duckett in a record-breaking fourth-innings run chase being praised.
Yet, despite the evidence in favour of Stokes’ unique philosophy, there are viable doubts as to the sustainability and longevity of this strategy for a team, hopefully, aiming to change into a well-rounded side across conditions.
For the bowlers – a crop with an extended history of injuries – bounding in in successive Tests when the pitches are arguably at their flattest on Days 1 and a pair of is not any good thing.
Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson and Mark Wood will probably be getting back from long layoffs. In a cruel coincidence, England’s biggest assets with the ball – together with the skipper himself – are at the best risk of irreparable damage with the ‘we are going to chase’ strategy.
Cricket is a fickle game. Stokes’ strategy was unquestionably the jump-start England needed in the summertime of 2022 after a lethargic end to its preceding era of Test cricket, a period which saw just one win from 17 Tests from a arrange that was criticised for lacking imagination.
But are England now running the danger of becoming too one-dimensional, entertainment notwithstanding?
READ MORE: Jofra Archer looks ‘able to go’ in ‘blockbuster’ third Test – Brendon McCullum
Bazballers beaten at their very own game, while India play the right game
The script Stokes has turned to since being on the helm – bat big, bat fast and shoot the opposition’s morale in the method – was flipped on them at Edgbaston.
India studiously learned from their mistakes at Headingley, this time piling on the runs when the pitch was at its flattest and grinding England’s bowlers into the dirt.
To say Bazball was blindsided could be a disservice to India, who played the right game with bat, ball and in the sphere.
In contrast, Bazball reverted to a display that has flirted with fans ever because the so-called Bazball v2.0 launched last summer.
From reckless strokes in the ultimate hour of Day 2 to daring comments from Harry Brook suggesting no goal was too great for this side, it was an unwanted throwback to a kind of play that seemed more preoccupied with ostentatiousness than function.
On a pitch which eventually produced the very best aggregate in a single Test between the 2 sides, England squandered opportunities to repay the hurt with bat in hand.
Almost in a rush to bask in allotting the pain themselves, Zak Crawley, Duckett and Ollie Pope launched futile attempts to bully the disciplined new-ball Indian bowlers of their first innings.
Top-order collapses in a brief space of time (25-3 in 7.1 overs in the primary innings and 50-3 in 10.2 overs within the second innings) curtly abbreviated England’s retorts before they might ever get going.
It was a well-known tale which unfolded last summer against Sri Lanka at The Oval that allowed the Lankans to claw their way back to a famous win. Nevertheless at Hamilton in December, there was a re-run of England’s horror flick with the bat which saw them lose by 423 runs.
Confidence and self-indulgence have uncomfortably jostled with each other during Bazball’s three-year tango; Edgbaston was yet one more pirouette on this dissonant dance.
Stokes’ men have pulled off some of recent Test cricket’s most improbable heists – Edgbaston 2022, Hyderabad 2024, Multan 2024, Headingley 2025.
In the identical breath, nonetheless, they’ve returned a few of English cricket’s heaviest defeats, the newest being Edgbaston 2025.
Is there a necessity for a Bazball v3.0 – one which reduces the gulf between the heady highs and the lamentable lows?
Gill propels himself into record books
With the sun shining and the runs flowing for the Indian batters, one would have thought it was an Indian summer at Edgbaston.
For India’s captain Shubman Gill, it definitely has been.
After an arduous captaincy debut at Headingley wherein his side fell just short, Gill was faced with a myriad of questions.
Why Shardul Thakur? Why no Jasprit Bumrah at Edgbaston? Why no Kuldeep Yadav?
India’s team selection and composition could also be a dynamically developing storyline because the series progresses, however the one constant currently rooting Gill firmly to the bottom is his batting.
Gill’s returns in the primary two Tests are on the doorstep of the greats of the sport.
At Edgbaston, he scored essentially the most runs for an Indian captain in a single innings (269), surpassing Virat Kohli’s 254*.
He became the primary batter in history to attain a double ton and a 150 in the identical Test.
His match aggregate of 430 runs is now the second-most in a single Test after Graham Gooch (456); this can also be essentially the most runs scored against England in a single game.
With 585 runs from just two Tests, and three more to go, India’s captain is on course to chase down the record for essentially the most runs in a series by any batter (974 scored by Sir Donald Bradman within the 1930 Ashes).
Shutting out the noise of his naysayers before the series, Gill has exuded class, regal batsmanship with an evolved technique, and a steely determination as a frontrunner: an iron fist in a velvet glove.
Although Bazball got here back right down to Earth with a convincing crash, the shining light for the hosts was Jamie Smith.
Only turning 25 later this month, it is tough to fathom the maturity he has exhibited in his international profession to-date.
On the back of nearly two days in the sphere and the tumult of a top-order collapse, Smith’s calmness and low-heartbeat persona was the antidote for the frenzy the team found itself in.
His first-innings 184* was the right mix of counterattacking with control – or ‘Bazball with brains’ – capturing the best batting tempo if this aggressive blueprint have to be adhered to.
Together with a second-innings 88, Smith leapfrogged Alec Stewart (204) to attain essentially the most runs for an English wicketkeeper in a single Test (272).
Moreover, this was the third highest aggregate for a wicketkeeper in a Test match behind only Andy Flower who holds the primary (341) and second (287) positions.
Smith’s 303-run riposte with Brook (158) threatened to do the unthinkable. Nevertheless, this was a bridge too far even for the host’s recent golden boys on the block.
An interesting discussion has began as as to if Smith deserves a slot above captain Stokes as a pure batter, given the latter’s poor returns since January 2024 (697 runs at a median of 26.80).
For now, plainly at the least coach McCullum has no real interest in entertaining this proposition, stating: ‘He’s just developing at rapid speed, and from our viewpoint, we’re very pleased with him at number seven and with the gloves on.’
Bumrah-less India grasps all 20 wickets
The largest concern for India coming into Edgbaston was the standard and incisiveness of the bowling outside of Jasprit Bumrah.
Many felt spin needed a bigger role inside India’s plans, with calls for Kuldeep Yadav to be chosen.
As an alternative, coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Gill doubled down on their belief to bat England into an unknown waters – an area where a draw was their best-case scenario.
Ultimately, this tickled Bazball’s ego and evoked the response Gill was trying to find.
Throughout the Test, India’s bowlers exploited the brand new ball expertly, bowling tight lines and forcing the batters to play.
Seam movement abandoned England’s bowlers while engaging in a warm embrace with India’s.
Between Mohammad Siraj and Akash Deep, they took 17 of the 20 English wickets to fall.
Deep (10-187) especially exploited any sliver of assistance on offer, including a widening crack on the fifth-stump channel on Day 5, to repeatedly threaten the off stump.
It was an exhibition of seam bowling on a pitch that, while flat, presented an iota of hope for the bowlers as the sport wore on. Ultimately, this was the difference between the 2 sides.
With a well-rested Bumrah set to play at Lord’s, India’s bowling attack of Bumrah, Deep and a revitalised Siraj looks a potent and penetrative trio.
England have a brainteaser ahead of Lord’s having to juggle battle-weary bowlers following back-to-back Tests with the matchwinning potential of pacers getting back from prolonged injury layoffs.
Pitch imperfect’?
There was commentary from each captains on the pitches at Headingley and Edgbaston.
On a pitch where 17 of England’s wickets fell to seam, Stokes curiously likened the Edgbaston pitch to a ‘subcontinent’ wicket, raising some eyebrows.
Head-scratching comments are nothing recent with the Bazball movement, and this thoroughly might have been the words from a captain with a scrambled brain following a heavy loss.
But in saying this, was it also an informal admission of the side’s limitations?
Meanwhile India’s captain slammed the pitches, together with ball quality, stating ‘it gets very difficult for the bowlers’.
Gill wryly added: ‘Let’s see what wicket they provide us at Lord’s. My guess is that it won’t be a flat one.’
Early reports indicate that England have requested a pitch with ‘loads of life in it’.
If this involves pass, this shapes as much as be Bazball’s sternest test up to now. Does Bazball back itself to endure in harsher batting conditions?
England’s wandering eye on the Ashes might incentivize the hosts to maneuver away from batting belters given Australia‘s four-man cartel (Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon) will likely be operating on spicier surfaces.
Time will tell.
By Mohan Harihar