England appear determined to do it the hard way. After sticking India in at Headingley and conjuring a win for the ages, Ben Stokes repeated the dose at Edgbaston – only for Shubman Gill, his opposite number, to respond with a century full of character.
This series is only six days old, but already the contest between the two captains is shaping up as a fascinating subplot that could last the summer and decide the fate of the Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy.
Cheerfully playing the immovable object to Stokes’s irresistible force, Gill reached stumps on an immaculate 114 in an Indian total of 310 for five, having so far added a crucial 99 with Ravindra Jadeja. Under pressure Gill might be after losing a Test, his first in charge, in which his side were variously 430 and three and 333 for four, but he now has two centuries in two games and is batting like a dream.
Once more, conditions had screamed ‘bat first’, especially once the sun had broken through the morning clouds and began baking another flat surface. Once more, Stokes thumbed his nose at convention. And while he will not want to chase as many as the 371 his side so memorably knocked off to win the first Test, he was sending a message to India: whatever you set us, we will get.
It is Test cricket, all right, but not as many know it, subverting the cherished notion that a game is often decided before the fourth innings. Stokes, by contrast, apparently wants to turn the first three innings into an appetiser for the main event. One thing is for sure: the critics who carped throughout the first four days in Leeds will need little excuse to dust off their misgivings should India square the series here.
If they succeed, Gill’s hundred – his seventh in Tests and fourth against England – will feature heavily in the post-script. And how his team needed it. The build-up had laid bare the selectorial confusion that has dogged the Indians since Headingley, and they settled on a final XI that brought to mind the old wisdom about a camel being a horse designed by a committee.
Shubman Gill scored a century as to help India reach 310-5 on the first day of the second Test with England
Ben Stokes opted for England to bowl first, as they had at Headingley, but India resisted
It will be interesting to see how India fare here after leaving out star bowler Jasprit Bumrah
To no great surprise, Jasprit Bumrah missed out, but India spurned the chance to bring in the dangerous left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, and instead chose a team that had a bob each way, full of all-round options but short on specialists. In trying to cover every base, they may have left themselves vulnerable.
On another day, that vulnerability would have come into sharper focus, not least during a superb opening spell from Chris Woakes, who on his home ground backed up the suspicion that – more than any of his team-mates – he is all the better for a gallop.
In the first innings at Headingley, he took none for 103, his worst Test figures in England, before improving as the game progressed. Now, he was in his groove from the start, and unlucky to finish a probing first spell with only the wicket of KL Rahul, who chopped on for two.
With a little more generosity from umpire Sharfuddoula, Woakes might have removed each of the top three. First, the Bangladeshi official turned down a strong lbw shout against Yashasvi Jaiswal, only 12 runs into his eventual 87. When England reviewed, DRS had the ball clipping the bails: umpire’s call on height, and therefore not enough to overrule the original decision.
Soon after, Karun Nair – the latest Indian to occupy their revolving-door position at No 3 – offered no stroke to an inducker. Again, Sharfuddoula remained unmoved. Again, DRS revealed an umpire’s call. Woakes, usually politeness personified, did not require much lip-reading.
In the final session, Sharfuddoula completed a hat-trick of borderline not-outs, turning down Shoaib Bashir’s leg-before appeal against Jadeja. On 13 at the time, Jadeja reached stumps on 41. None of the decisions was a shocker, though England might reasonably have expected one of them to go their way.
Earlier, Brydon Carse found extra bounce to have Nair caught at second slip by Harry Brook for 31 shortly before lunch, but as Jaiswal and Gill took India to 161 for two half an hour before tea, the logic of Stokes’s decision to bowl emerged blinking into the spotlight.
And when Stokes served up a wide long hop to Jaiswal, a ferocious cutter, four runs seemed the likeliest outcome. Instead, Jaiswal edged through to Jamie Smith, and stood rooted to the spot, as aghast as Stokes was jubilant.
Chris Woakes made the breakthrough as he bowled KL Rahul – but he could have had more wickets with more generous umpiring
Brydon Carse found extra bounce to have Karun Nair caught at second slip for 31
England were equally delighted to get rid of Rishabh Pant – scorer of twin centuries at Headingley – for 25, a lofted drive down the ground off Bashir miscued towards long-on, where Zak Crawley held a smart catch. And it was 211 for five when Nitish Kumar Reddy, a replacement for Shardul Thakur, shouldered arms to Woakes and lost his off stump.
Thoughts drifted back to Leeds, where India had lost seven for 41 in their first innings and six for 31 in their second. But Jadeja is their most experienced cricketer, and Gill mixed patient defence with powerful drives. Together, they repaired the damage.
It had also become apparent that Josh Tongue was not pulling his weight as the third seamer. His double destruction of India’s tail in the first Test had masked struggles against the top order, and he finished the day with none for 66 from 13 maiden-free overs.
When Jofra Archer walked round the boundary edge carrying drinks, the Hollies Stand serenaded him like a conquering hero. Assuming he makes his long-awaited return to Test cricket next week at Lord’s, it seems clear which of his colleagues he will replace.
