India coach Gautam Gambhir came under heavy scrutiny for the team selection ahead of the Edgbaston Test. With India having already lost the series opener in Leeds, dropping Jasprit Bumrah was the biggest shocker. Furthermore, India opted to go with three all-rounders including two spinners in a bid to increase their batting depth. This sparked a lot of debate with a multiple former cricketers calling the decision ‘baffling’.
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As it turns out, the Shubman Gill-led side ended up winning the contest and that too convincingly. All of Gambhir’s calls worked as well.
Akash Deep, who replaced Bumrah to manage his workload, took 10 wickets in the game which included a six-wicket haul. The pitch for the ENG vs IND 2nd Test also turned out to be flat after the first day and the Indian batters piled up over 1000 runs across two innings. The cracks too opened up towards the end of the game which allowed the spinners to find some purchase as well.
After India’s win, responding to the criticisms Gambhir had to face, his Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) teammate Manvinder Bisla has spoken out in the coach’s defence. Bisla took to his social media account on X (formerly Twitter) and wrote,
Notably, Bisla played a key role in Gambhir and KKR’s maiden IPL triumph back in 2012, slamming a fiery 89 to defeat CSK in the final.
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One change that Gambhir will definitely make is to bring back Jasprit Bumrah into the playing XI. The wicket at Lord’s, as was visible from the recent World Test Championship (WTC 2025) Final, offered a lot for the pacers and Gambhir will not miss to use his best asset at the iconic venue.
Bumrah will thus return either at the cost of Prasidh Krishna or Akash Deep but given the latter’s recent performances, he might retain his spot in the XI. The other option is to drop the extra all-rounder that India opted for at the Edgbaston Test in either Nitish Kumar Reddy or Washington Sundar.
Gambhir is unlikely to tinker with the top 5 given the solid batting display in the ENG vs IND 2nd game.
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