CHENNAI: "A Fortress. They call it a Fortress," Pat Cummins had laughed sitting in the away dressing room of Edgbaston six years ago. Australia had just beaten England in the first Ashes Test in 2019. The moment, candidly captured in the first season of 'The Test' documentary on Amazon Prime that followed the Australian men's team, went viral and continues to do so even now, especially whenever England lose at Edgbaston. That, however, does not happen as often. There was a reason why English fans and the team called Birmingham a 'fortress'. Between the Ashes losses in 2001 and 2019, England had lost just one Test at the venue. Since then, they have lost two more – once against Australia again in 2023 and once versus New Zealand in 2021.
In all the three defeats, one player, or more than one, from the opposition had to come out and put on one of their best performances for their team to beat England. Steve Smith's twin centuries in 2019, Usman Khawaja's hundred and a fifty in 2023, Nathan Lyon in both those matches or the entire New Zealand pace attack coming together in 2021, it takes everything from a team to beat England at Edgbaston. And it is not just the conditions, but also the atmosphere. It is perhaps the most in-the-face, loudest crowd an opposition could get in the country. To get on top and silence them is something not many teams have managed to accomplish. And India are not one of them. In the eight games they have played at the venue, India have lost seven and drawn one.
This time, too, it is not going to be easy. Having squandered the advantage they had at Leeds before eventually losing the Test, Shubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir might have one too many things to figure out before they finalise their playing XI on Wednesday. First, and foremost, would be to decide whether or not Jasprit Bumrah will take the field. Bumrah bowled 43.4 overs in Headingley — more than any other pacer in that Test — and his workload is of utmost priority for the team management, especially knowing that he might play only two more games in this tour. Gill, while declaring that he is fit and available, has played his cards close to the chest in terms of whether the premium pacer will take the field on Wednesday.
The second concern would be about which two spinners to play. As recent record shows, the surface is expected to be dry and India could play two spinners between Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav. Although it might not be the best of decisions, if Kuldeep does miss out, it should not come as a surprise. After all, that is often the route this team management has taken over the last year — preferring all-rounders over frontline spinners. Both Gambhir and Gill have said that they want to take 20 wickets, but recent pattern shows that they might look to add batting depth especially after the twin collapses in Leeds. "We are trying to find the right combination where we can take 20 wickets and score runs as well on these kinds of wickets. We just thought we are going to have a final look today once we come to the ground and see what kind of combination that we want to go with tomorrow (Wednesday)," Gill said on the eve of the match.
"In the last match also, we felt that if we had an extra spinner in the 4th inning, the game could have been better. Whenever Jaddu Bhai was bowling, we felt that chances were being created. We felt that it is easier to contain the runs for spinners than for fast bowlers, especially when the ball is old. Looking at the last match, I felt that if similar wickets are going to remain, then a second spinner won't be a bad option," he added.
For now, it seems likely that B Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair could retain their place, especially with the duo training to be a part of the slip cordon along with KL Rahul, Gill and Rishabh Pant. If that remains the case, and they decide to play Nitish Reddy as well, then the extra spinner might end up coming in place of Bumrah. It would mean that India will go into the game with two frontline pacers. This is not unprecedented though. In Sydney, India played Jadeja, Washington and Nitish. The final call, as Gill said, would be made before the toss.
In saying all that, for India to bounce back and win in Edgbaston, they will need to score big hundreds at a brisk rate and then come out and hold on to all their catches and take 20 wickets. This could determine whether or not Gill and his team could have a chance of winning the series.
