New Delhi: It’s easier said than done to go after improbable targets for a win in Test matches, even when a rather comfortable draw is on the offer and is the easy alternative. But not when you are Bredon McCullum’s England. ‘Bazball’ is not only England’s changed approach in the whites, but it has also instilled their most defiant principle in recent times – to not bat for draws, but look for wins.
England have also walked the talk on several occasions. From declaring on the opening day of Test matches to chasing down mammoth 4th innings totals. But not on Sunday. Shubman Gill’s India had Bazball on its knees, trapping England in their own web to record a thumping 336-run victory in the 2nd Test between the two sides at Edgbaston in England.
Skipper Gill’s mammoth 430-run match aggregate and a 10-wicket match haul from pacer Akash Deep saw India script history at Edgbaston by clinching their first-ever Test victory at the venue. After setting up a daunting 608-run target in their second innings, India bundled out England for a paltry 271 inside two sessions on a rain-affected final day to pull off a memorable win and level the five-match series 1-1.
Bazball fails first real test in India series
After Akash Deep’s fiery spell reduced them to 72/3 at stumps on Day 4, the writing was on the wall for England. With the hosts requiring 556 runs and India only 7 wickets away from victory on the final day, the stage was set for Bazball’s first real test in the series. Do they go for the quite improbable or do they settle for a draw?
Despite their audacious claims that no target was beyond their reach, England knew a win was nearly impossible. They had a more realistic chance of preserving their wickets on the final day and playing for a draw, which would have kept them in the lead in the series. But the hosts went with their instincts and were deservingly punished as India made a mockery of Bazball to claim their first win at Edgbaston in as many as eight attempts.
“Bazball’s going to get asked the ultimate question tomorrow. Are the team and the players going to go completely against what their natural instincts are to do? You’ve got to get what’s best on offer. And what’s best on offer at the minute is a draw,” former England captain Michael Vaughan said on BBC Test Match Special, assessing England’s options ahead of Day 5.
But as it turned out, England looked to uphold Bazball in audaciously going for an impossible chase and were brought down to the ground instantly. Akash Deep ran riot with the ball as he completed his maiden Test five-for on his way to picking up a six-wicket haul to leave England in tatters in the 608-run chase. In the end, England couldn’t even get half of the monstrous target as their ultra-aggressive philosophy was dismantled.
Wickets tumbled left, right and centre on the final day as England had no one who could withold the storm. Akash Deep got India off to a flyer after a delayed start on Day 5 as he removed Ollie Pope and Harry Brook in successive overs to turn the game completely in the visitors’ favour. Jamie Smith waged a lone battle for England with a gritty 88, but the game had already slipped from their hands.
Akash Deep dismissed the English wicket-keeper to complete his maiden Test fifer, before sealing the victory for India with the final scalp of Brydon Carse to finish with match-winning figures of 6/99 off his 21.1 overs. It was a spell to remember from the pacer, who turned the ball viciously throughout his spell to keep the England batter on their toes.
No Bumrah, no problem for India
A lot was said and written about Jasprit Bumrah’s absence from the Test match, but Akash Deep stood up in the senior pacer’s absence to ensure his ground-breaking spells were not missed. Akash Deep was well supported by Mohammed Siraj, with the duo bowling exceptionally well in tandem to power India to their first Test victory at Edgbaston.
Siraj picked up a fifer, while Akash Deep finished with a 4-wicket haul as the duo snared nine of the ten wickets in England’s first innings. Akash Deep continued his impressive run with the ball during England’s second innings to complete a 10-wicket match haul. The 28-year-old, who was snubbed from the 1st Test, made his mark instantly in the series, becoming the first Indian since Chetan Sharma (1986) to take a 10-wicket match haul in England.
Indian team management’s decision to snub Kuldeep Yadav from the XI was also heavily criticised, however, Akash Deep’s heroics papered over the cracks as the Indian pacers dominated the proceedings at Edgbaston. Akash Deep was the difference with the ball for India, providing crucial breakthroughs at important junctures to bowl England out of the game.
Captain leads from the front
If Akash Deep was the hero with the ball, skipper Shubman Gill was the leader with the bat. The captain led from the front with a double ton and a ton in the two innings of the Test match to play a key role in setting up India’s biggest away victory in the history of Test cricket. Gill slammed a brilliant 269-run knock in India’s first innings and followed it up with an excellent 161 in the second to shatter records.
Gill’s double ton powered India to a staggering 587 in their first innings, before his 161 helped the visitors declare on 427/6 in their second innings to set a 608-run target for England. Gill recorded a match aggregate of 430 runs across two innings, the most by an Indian in a single Test, surpassing the legendary Sunil Gavaskar’s 344 runs against the West Indies (124 and 220) at Port of Spain in 1971.
Gill’s 430 runs in the Edgbaston Test is the second most runs scored by a batter in a Test match, only behind England legend Graham Gooch’s 456 against India in the Lord’s Test in 1990. Gill also became only the third Indian captain to score a ton in each innings of a Test match after Gavaskar and Virat Kohli.
His 430 runs helped the visitors score a mammoth 1014 runs across their two innings of the Edgbaston Test, the most scored by India in a Test match. India became only the fifth team after England (1930), Australia (1934 and 1969), Pakistan (2006), and South Africa (1939) to breach the 1,000-run mark in a test match and become part of an exclusive club.
Gill has been in stunning form in his first Test series as captain, having already amassed a whopping 585 runs in just two matches to lead the run-scoring charts. The Indian skipper will be hoping to continue his dazzling run in the remainder of the series, aware that the job is far from done yet if he and his team are to script history by clinching the series.