As the match heads into Day 5, England need 536 more runs while India are just seven wickets away from victory.
India’s strong showing in the second Test at Edgbaston has earned praise from former England cricketers Nasser Hussain and Stuart Broad. Both believe India deserve the win after completely outplaying England with both bat and ball. As the match heads into Day 5, England need 536 more runs while India are just seven wickets away from victory.
Nasser Hussain, while speaking to Sky Sports Cricket, pointed out that India have consistently played better cricket across both Tests so far, even though they went into this match trailing 1-0 in the series. He highlighted how India have won more sessions overall, and felt it was only fair for them to level the series after such efforts. Nasser praised their batting and bowling and said it was concerning from England’s point of view that Indian seamers were able to extract more help from the pitch than the home team. He specifically praised Akash Deep, calling his spell with the new ball outstanding.
“If you look at the nine days of the Test series, they’ve probably won more, in fact they’ve definitely won more sessions than England, yet they find themselves one nil down,” Nasser Hussain told Sky Sports.
“That’s why they needed this evening and that’s why they need tomorrow, because they ve played so much good cricket in two Test matches now, they feel that they should go to Lord’s 1-1. Excellent, excellent with the bat and then the ball. It’s a real worry that their seamers got more out of this pitch with the new ball than England did. That new ball burst from Akash Deep was absolutely wonderful,” he added.
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Continuing the conversation, Stuart Broad echoed the same view and offered some technical insight into why India’s bowlers were more effective. He explained that as the pitch dried out, it offered more movement for the new ball. Broad pointed out that Akash Deep, being slightly shorter than England’s pacers like Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue, was able to bowl a fuller length that threatened the stumps more often.
“I think when surfaces do dry up a little bit, the new ball can nip off the sort of cracks or the drier surfaces,” said Broad.
“That was just an outstanding spell from Akash Deep today, bringing the stumps into play. He’s slightly shorter than Carse and Tongue, so he can bowl a slightly different length to hit the stumps,” he added.
Broad admitted that India had clearly been the better side in this match, both with the bat and the ball, which was clear from their massive 536 run lead going into the final day with just seven wickets left to take. He also said that after India’s loss at Headingley, where England chased down 371 runs, he felt the series might slip away from them. However, he appreciated the way the Indian team bounced back with fresh energy and determination.
“I think India, we have to be honest, India have out bowled England in this Test match and out batted them and that’s why they’re 536 runs ahead with a whole day to go, needing seven wickets to win the Test match. They’ve been superb this week and I must admit, I thought after that day five at Headingley, I thought this series could be gone when you concede that many to lose a Test match when you’ve controlled the Test match like they did. How do you pick yourself up? And they’ve done it superbly,” he concluded.
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