India’s run at Edgbaston is a record the present dressing room will hope to change
The first Test match in the ongoing series between England and India was historic. Several records were broken, including five Test centuries from five different players, but India tasted defeat courtesy of poor bowling by most Indian bowlers.
The series now moves to Edgbaston in Birmingham, where the two sides will lock horns for the second game. This venue has not been favoured in India in the last few decades—here’s why.
India’s last visit to Edgbaston was in 2022, and this was the fifth game of India’s tour in England. Batting first, India put on a decent score of 416 in the first innings, followed by decent bowling that restricted England to 284. However, the tide changed in England’s favour, as India was restricted to 245, and thereafter, England scored 378 to win the game by seven wickets.
Prior to the loss in 2022, India had visited Edgbaston in 2018, which turned out to be a bowler’s paradise. Batting first, England was restricted by Indian bowlers at 287. However, the English bowlers also had their day and stopped India at 274. The second innings again saw England succumb at 180, but India’s batting performance was no better. The team lost all its wickets at 162, losing the game by 31 runs.
India suffered one of the worst humiliations in 2011 when the team under former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni visited Edgbaston. Batting first, the Indian line-up displayed a poor show, scoring merely 224 runs. The English batsmen responded with an impressive display, amassing 710 runs. The game was already lost, and India only managed 244 runs in the second innings. England won the game by 242 runs and an innings, registering one of the most significant victories ever recorded in Test cricket’s history.
India at Edgbaston was never a happy scenario, as is evident from the defeat suffered in 1996. Batting first, the English bowling line-up restricted India to 214 runs and took the lead with 313 runs on board. In the second innings, India succumbed to 219, whereas England scored 121 runs to win the game by eight wickets.
Considering the last five encounters at Edgbaston, India’s only fruitful result was a draw. With Mike Gatting’s 183, England posted 390 runs in the first innings that India matched under Kapil Dev’s captaincy. In the second innings, the Indian bowling line-up did well enough to halt England at 235. Unfortunately, the Indian batters failed to give enough support and scored 174, only good enough to secure a draw.
