June 24 saw India being unable to defend a target of 371 vs England at Headingley in Leeds. England won by five wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. Despite as many as five centuries by the Indian players, including twin tons by Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill lost his first Test as captain by a convincing margin. It was the first time any side had lost a Test after scoring five centuries in the match.
History Against IndiaThe second Test starts on July 2 at Edgbaston in Birmingham. History is not in India’s favour because their record at the venue is nothing to write home about. India have lost seven and drawn one Test at the ground and only once scored over 300 in 16 innings. Momentum, statistics and history are on England’s side as the hosts look to make it 2-2.
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For Gill’s Team India, a 93-year-old jinx needs to be broken in order to win the Test series from here. Since 1932, India have toured England many times. But never have they won the series after losing the first Test. In 2002, they did fight back to draw it 1-1. However, they never won it once they conceded defeat in the first Test.
India have won three Test series in England. In 1971 and 2007, the first Test ended in a draw and they won the series 1-0 on both occasions. In 1986, India won the opening Test and ended up clinching the series 2-0. It’s been 18 years since India won a Test series in England. Since that victory, they have lost three and drawn one. They could have won in 2021 with a 2-1 lead but the fifth Test was rescheduled to 2022 due to COVID. England won it to draw the series 2-2.
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India have come to England in the wake of retirements from Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Mohammed Shami also missed the series due to fitness issues and Shreyas Iyer was surprisingly left out of the squad. It remains to be seen if India can plug the hole left by the absence of these players which clearly showed as their lower order collapsed in both innings of the Leeds Test. Also no bowler provided much support to Jasprit Bumrah.
Edgbaston WoesWhat is worse is that Bumrah is all set to miss the next game and that makes India’s job harder. Not only do they have to break a 93-year-old jinx but also sort out the team composition before the toss happens. It will take something special for India to make it 1-1. Should England make it 2-0, then India will really be on the defensive. On the other hand, if it remains 1-0, India still have a chance to fight back. What will happen? Time will tell!
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