Team India couldn’t have asked for a better outing than what they had on Day 2 of the ongoing second Birmingham Test. While the opening day saw them lose five wickets, Thursday was something authoritative for the visitors. Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja started it all, punishing English bowlers with an aggressive intent. Then, Jadeja missed out on his much-awaited century, but Gill converted his hundred into a daddy double, thus toppling numerous records.
Shubman Gill spearheads batting department
His unbeaten 269 runs was a play of symphony, leaving the English bowlers frustrated and etching his name in the history books. This achievement marks him as the first Indian captain to score a double century in England, and it is now the highest Test score by an Indian in SENA countries.
Gill’s partnership with Ravindra Jadeja, who scored 85, added 203 runs for the sixth wicket, taking India from 211/5 to 414/6. Washington Sundar also played a crucial role with a measured 41, helping India post a massive 587 runs.
Triple strike jolted England
Then it was a resounding response from the Indian bowling unit! After being left wanting in Leeds, the bowlers bounced back with a vengeance, notwithstanding the absence of the world-class Jasprit Bumrah. Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj took center stage, exploiting the early assistance from the pitch and nipping England’s top order to shreds. If some questioned the ease of the pitch in Birmingham, Indian bowlers showed which lengths to bowl.
Akash Deep, making wonders with his comeback, claimed two scalps in two balls, including Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope for ducks, while Siraj injected pace and fire into his spells, sending Zak Crawley packing soon. England stumbled to 25/3, and despite a fighting partnership between Joe Root and Harry Brook, the hosts struggled to find their footing.
Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh should stick to….
Now, the game is too far away from England’s hands. With three wickets already in the pavilion, they can’t recover the 510 runs (trail) within Day 3 itself. They need to bat for the entirety of the day and also need Day 4 to go in their way too. Yes, the Edgbaston surface doesn’t have demons for batters. There’s hardly any swing on offer, with sun also soaking down. But you need class to bat on any surface.
Shubman Gill had that. Harry Brook and Joe Root need to build on the momentum they built, but they face a bowling attack that has a point to prove. The duo of Akash Deep and Siraj have looked quite threatening, and it is superb news for India. Siraj, disappointed in Leeds, spearheads this attack, and he needs to continue doing what he does best—putting efforts into bowling in the channel of uncertainty. Day 3 surface could be hard for bowlers. But India have already tasted blood.
Akash Deep, despite leaking 12 runs in the very first over, has been laudable. He was quite unlucky in Australia, but it looks like the Bihar-born finally has the rub of the green. He got two in two yesterday and would love to make a mark again. If he does, Akash could well be the front runner to partner Bumrah in the next Test at Lord’s.
It’s a performance that holds particular weight given his misfortune in Australia earlier this year, where he induced the highest false shot percentage among all Indian bowlers but returned with just 5 wickets in 4 innings. That tour, coupled with a partially missed IPL 2025 due to injury, had somewhat derailed his momentum. But at Edgbaston, he looked like a bowler reborn—probing outside off, extracting bounce, and complementing Mohammed Siraj’s aggression from the other end.
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