England suffered a 336-run defeat against India in the second Test at Edgbaston.
India has breached Edgbaston. The Shubman Gill-led team has pulled off an incredible victory in Birmingham, a venue that had eluded the visitors for decades. India crushed England by a whopping margin of 336 runs to level the series 1-1. The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy will now head to the Home of Cricket, in a riveting third Test starting July 10. Post India’s victory on Sunday, many experts have expressed their views, hailing the batting performance and captaincy of Shubman Gill. The Indian skipper scored 430 runs in the match. But despite the runs, they still had a job to do. Test matches can’t be won without picking 20 wickets, and Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep did exactly that. The latter shone with the ball as he picked up 10 wickets in the match to leave the English batters dazed.
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However, Michael Vaughan is still confident that Ben Stokes & Co. still have a chance of defeating India and claiming the series. The former English skipper has predicted that the series will belong to the hosts, with them claiming it by a margin of 3-1. Vaughan was all praises for the performance of the Indian team under new captain Shubman Gill. But he firmly believes that the visitors would not be able to win another Test in the series. However, he is backing the hosts to clinch two of the remaining three matches.
“India has been too good this week. Outstanding performance [but] my prediction is still alive. 3-1 England”, Vaughan said via his social media handle on X (formerly Twitter).
The former English skipper wasn’t very happy with his team’s performance in the second Test. He expressed that, barring the 303-run partnership between Harry Brook and Jamie Smith, England was completely outplayed by the Indians. He also stated that this English side can go on to achieve greater heights in the next six months, indicating towards the Ashes series later this year. Post their win in the first Test at Headingley, many pundits lauded the English side and their style of play, referring to it as ‘Bazball with Brains.’ Vaughan also stressed that the hosts might have overlooked the luck factor after the first Test. India dropped a heap of catches at Headingley, a mistake that they weren’t going to repeat at Edgbaston.
“This team has given us so much joy over the last three years, and they can achieve great things over the next six months. After Headingley, it looked like they had improved, and we called it Bazball with brains. This week, they were back to their bad old ways. If we are honest, England has been hammered this week. Apart from four hours on the third day, when Harry Brook and Jamie Smith batted beautifully, they have been dominated by India”, said Vaughan
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The 50-year-old pointed out the need for a change in approach for his team. He stated that England wanted to play the same brand of cricket as in the first Test. According to Vaughan, it has backfired big time. He believes that the team showed great character and resolve in Leeds, but there was also a lot of fortune involved in the victory. To top it off, he still believes that Ben Stokes & Co. can have the upper hand, and has made a bold prediction that England will clinch the series 3-1.
“It was a performance that worried me greatly. I fear they used the first match as absolute evidence of how to play Test cricket. They showed great skill in that win, but there was also a lot of fortune involved. They turned up here and thought they should do everything the same way, and it has backfired”, he concluded.
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