
IND vs ENG, 2nd Test: 'They can't win' - Former England captain pleads Ben Stokes and co to bat for draw
Former England captain
Michael Vaughan
has pleaded with
Ben Stokes
and co to play for a draw on the final day as they can't win the Edgbaston Test from this position.
"They can't win this game," Vaughan told BBC Cricket.
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"India have completely dominated the Test match with brilliant skill, great discipline. It's exactly what I want to see from England tomorrow. In a funny kind of way, this day has been coming where the Bazballers can't arrive on day five and even think about winning.
"Have they got the ticker, the skill set, and the determination to try and get a draw? The next best thing from winning a Test match is getting a draw. If they just kind of give it away and just say, oh, you know, the way that we play, we're always on the front foot playing aggressively, they'll get bowled out quickly tomorrow.
Have they got the skill set and the mindset to try and bat the full day and get on the bus to Lord's with a draw? We'll wait and see.
"
Vaughan pointed out that in the 34 Tests under Stokes' captaincy, England have drawn only once — a rain-affected game — while winning 21 and losing 12. He argued that to succeed in major series, especially against top sides like India or in Australia, England's mindset needs to shift.
'Bazball's going to get asked the ultimate question tomorrow.
Are the team and the players going to go completely against what their natural instincts are to do? You've got to get what's best on offer. And what's best on offer at the minute is a draw,' Vaughan said on Test Match Special.
India Dominate Day 4! Siraj & Akash Deep Rattle England
'If you want to win the big series against the likes of India at home in five matches and you want to go to Australia, I think it's impossible to have a mindset that we just win, that's all we go for. We don't play for draws.
"A draw for England from this position, and I hope they get it more in a way of kind of success, if they can get away from here with a draw, it's almost better than last week's win because it's completely against their natural trade.'
For real-time updates, scores, and highlights, follow our live coverage of the
India vs England Test match
here.
Game On Season 1 continues with Mirabai Chanu's inspiring story. Watch Episode 2 here.

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India.com
36 minutes ago
- India.com
Ben Stokes Mocked As ‘Cry Baby' By Fans After Blaming Edgbaston Pitch For Loss vs India
IND vs ENG: India stormed back into the five-match Test series with a thumping 336-run victory over England in the second Test at Edgbaston, leveling the series 1-1 in emphatic fashion. The visitors outclassed England in all departments, riding on Shubman Gill's twin tons and a fiery bowling display led by Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj. Stokes Blames 'Subcontinent Pitch' for Defeat England skipper Ben Stokes stirred debate after the loss by calling the Edgbaston surface a 'subcontinental pitch' as it progressed, suggesting India were better suited to exploit the conditions. 'It probably ended up being more of a subcontinent pitch... with the Indian attack and the conditions they are used to, they were able to expose it better than us,' Stokes said during a BBC interview. His remarks were not received well by fans, many of whom criticized him online for deflecting blame rather than accepting England's shortcomings in execution. Fans Call Ben Stokes CryBaby After Lame Excuse For Loss - Give us Flat Pitch for Bazball - If ball starts moving, oh god save us Cry Baby Ben Stokes #INDvsENG #ENGvIND #EdgbastonTest (@rishu_1809) July 6, 2025 "It ended up being more of a subcontinent pitch." Lol Ben Stokes is a proper cry baby. Absolutely lost it when Jaiswal got an opportunity to review. Was throwing fits that umpire gave him LBW in what was plumb. Captain Cranky? — Sameer Allana (@HitmanCricket) July 6, 2025 Ben stokes is a cry baby (@GummadiSur83274) July 7, 2025 Akash Deep, Siraj Decimate England's Batting Line-Up With Jasprit Bumrah rested, Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj stepped up in spectacular fashion. Akash, playing only his second Test, delivered match-winning figures of 10/187, including a 6/99 haul in the second innings now the best bowling performance by an Indian pacer in England. Siraj, meanwhile, starred in the first innings with 6/70, which set the tone for India's dominance. Their combined efforts dismantled the English batting on what many called a batting-friendly surface. Gill's Heroics and India's Batting Masterclass India's win was set up by captain Shubman Gill, who created history by becoming the first player in Test cricket to score both a 250 (269) and a 150+ (161) in the same match. India posted a staggering 1014 runs across two innings 587 and 427/6d a record in Indian Test history. He was ably supported by Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Nitish Kumar Reddy, who all made significant contributions. Jamie Smith Lone Warrior for England England's only bright spot was Jamie Smith, who followed up his unbeaten 184 in the first innings with a gritty 88 in the second. Despite wickets tumbling around him, Smith showed great fight, though it wasn't enough to prevent the collapse.


Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
IND vs ENG, 2nd Test: Under grey skies, Akash Deep shines bright
India's Akash Deep celebrates the dismissal of England's Ollie Pope on day five of the second cricket test match between England and India at Edgbaston in Birmingham, England, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell) Birmingham: Akash Deep tends to get excited at the prospect of representing the country and playing on the biggest stage, getting to run in and bowl at venues he has only heard of in stories while growing up. Last Sept, ahead of a Test match against Bangladesh, he said he was thrilled to be playing a match at Green Park in Kanpur, since it was the first stadium he had ever heard of. Similarly, he had pre-conceived notions about traditional bowling conditions here in England. 'I'd imagined that I'd get conditions where the ball swings and seams,' Akash had said after his four-wicket haul in the first innings here at Edgbaston. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Hailing from a small town in Bihar , Akash Deep sure has come a long way. On Sunday, when proceedings began after lunch on Day 5, the announcer at the ground mentioned Akash by name. Immediately, the Indian fans — who comfortably outnumbered the England supporters — started chanting his name wildly. After his match-winning 10-wicket haul in the second Test, the humble, small-town boy is the toast of Indian cricket at one of the most celebrated venues in the world. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Honda SP125: Now with More Power & Style Honda Learn More Undo Perhaps Akash Deep's humility is what helps him stay flexible and be effective in varied conditions. 'The coaches have always encouraged me. They tell me that even I don't realise the things I am capable of,' Akash said. 'Any attack of ours can take 20 wickets anywhere': Shubman Gill hails Mohd Siraj, Akash Deep after historic Edgbaston win When he found out that conditions in England this summer didn't exactly resemble the stories, Akash Deep immediately decided to stick to his natural lines and lengths. He has enough miles in his legs at the domestic level and that showed as he ran in tirelessly, seamlessly, in both innings here. 'I trusted my experience and stuck to the line and lengths that I bowled in India. On these kinds of pitches, you need to be disciplined.,' Akash said. He consistently out-bowled everyone on this relatively docile Edgbaston track and kept coming at the batters. It's remarkable considering he was off-colour in the IPL following a side injury and subsequently carried a niggle while travelling with the India 'A' team preceding this Test series. 'Akash is an attacking bowler who asks questions by bowling at the stumps a lot. That's one of the golden rules here in England. Coming back from injury and seeing him running in and bowling at a high pace is a a nice sign for us,' India's bowling coach Morne Morkel said after Akash Deep produced a dream spell to get rid of the in-form Ben Duckett and Joe Root late on the fourth day on Saturday. Not surprisingly, he got the ball rolling immediately on the final morning by knocking over Ollie Pope , followed by trapping Harry Brook in front of the stumps with balls that jagged back remarkably off the seam. For now, Akash Deep is on a roll. India will be hoping for more such performances from him in this series. For real-time updates, scores, and highlights, follow our live coverage of the India vs England Test match here. Game On Season 1 continues with Mirabai Chanu's inspiring story. Watch Episode 2 here.
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First Post
an hour ago
- First Post
Akash Deep, Siraj prove their worth with Edgbaston heroics as momentum shifts sharply in Test series
Mohammed Siraj was left to lead the Indian attack after Jasprit Bumrah was rested for the second Test against England, with Akash Deep being drafted in as his replacement. And the two ended up greatly outperforming their English counterparts with the Dukes ball on a batting paradise at Edgbaston. read more Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep collected 17 of the 20 English wickets that fell during the second Test at Edgbaston, with the latter collecting 10 wickets across both innings. AP A team can score all the runs in the world, but cannot hope to win a match if they don't get their bowling combination right. That was the overwhelming worry for captain Shubman Gill, head coach Gautam Gambhir and the rest of the Indian team as they arrived in Birmingham for the second Test against England. And yet, level the series they did at Edgbaston on Sunday, thrashing Ben Stokes' men by a jaw-dropping margin of 336 runs. The very team that had failed to defend 370-plus targets in each of their last two away Tests against England had suddenly dominated a match from start to finish, with the five-match series suddenly thrown wide open. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The biggest change in India's performance in Leeds and in Birmingham was the manner in which the bowling unit stood tall and packed a punch. While Bumrah had cut a frustrated figure at Headingley due to lack of support from the other end, Mohammad Siraj and Akash Deep hunted like a pair of hungry wolves. Especially with the brand new Dukes cherry in hand. That too on a featherbed where India amassed more than 1,000 runs across both innings – with captain Shubman Gill alone scoring 430. One would have been forgiven for having doubts on this attack's ability to withstand the 'Bazball' charge, especially in the fourth innings. And especially after the team chose to retain Prasidh Krishna – the seamer who had been hit for more than six runs an over in both innings in the first Test, his expensive spells allowing the opposition batters to wriggle out of tight corners and surge ahead. Akash had enjoyed a memorable debut against the same team in Ranchi last year, but there were doubts over his effectiveness outside India after the tour of Australia, where he had collected five wickets in two matches at an average of 54. As for Siraj, he had the added weight of leading the attack in Bumrah's absence besides tightening his own lines and lengths to avoid getting hit all over the park. India's new-ball pair sets tone after batters flatten England On a surface where captain Gill's majestic 269 helped India post a mammoth 587 and ground the hosts' hopes to the dirt, it was Siraj and Akash who made the Dukes ball talk and had the top half of the English batting order dancing to their tunes. The two Indians breathed fire and troubled batters with late movement on a wicket where the English attack had run out of answers, especially during Gill's partnerships with Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar. The result – England getting reduced to 84/5, losing half their side while trailing the visitors by more than 500 runs. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Mohammed Siraj had collected 6/70 in England's first innings that helped India collect a huge 180-run lead. AP Had it not been for Harry Brook and Jamie Smith's explosive rescue act, the two middle-order batters adding 303 for the sixth wicket that took their team past 400, the game might have very well inside three days. Siraj and Akash went on to prove that their heroics on Thursday evening and Friday morning were by no means a one-off – triggering a late collapse that saw the hosts lose their last five wickets for 20 runs. Also Read | Gill, Akash and Smith shine; Reddy, Pope disappoint: Rating Indian and English players' performances That was followed by an encore of India's clinical new ball show in the first innings, with the Englishmen reduced to 83/5 in their chase of an improbable 608-run target, leaving the result of the game a mere formality in the absence of a thunderstorm. And for a change, Siraj and Akash's disciplined spells appear to have rubbed off on their colleagues in the bowling department; after leaking 72 runs in 13 overs in the first innings, Prasidh had bowled with an economy under three and was clever with his slower deliveries. And Jadeja was breathing down the necks of the tail-enders with as many as five close-in fielders. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Akash proves his worth on foreign soil with 10-fer The most impressive of them all, though, was Akash, who only got better as the game progressed. After playing a supporting role in the first innings, it was the Bengal pacer originally hailing from Bihar's Sasaram who stood tall and took charge during the English innings. While Siraj had drawn first blood during the fourth innings by inducing an aerial drive straight to backward point off Zak Crawley's bat with 11 on the board, it was Akash who ran through the rest of England's top five in a memorable spell, which included a beauty to batting stalwart Joe Root that the legendary Sachin Tendulkar has described as the 'ball of the series'. India pacer Akash Deep celebrates after dismissing English batting star Joe Root on Day 4 of the second Test at Edgbaston. Reuters The cherry on top of the cake was Akash completing his maiden five-for and a 10-wicket match haul, which he later dedicated to his elder sister, whom he later revealed is fighting cancer. 'They (bowlers) were magnificent and I think the way we were able to get through the top-order, that was important to us, and both those bowlers bowled brilliantly and even Prasidh, he didn't get as many wickets as them, but he also bowled brilliantly,' Gill said during the post-match presentation ceremony after India bowled England out for 271 to level the five-match series 1-1. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'He (Akash) bowled with so much heart. The areas and lengths he hit, he was getting the ball to move both ways. On wickets like these, it's difficult to do that, he was just magnificent for us,' he added. Gill confirmed during the post-match interview that Bumrah will be returning to the playing XI during the third Test at Lord's, which gets underway just four days from now. And after the events of Edgbaston over the course of the last five days, India suddenly appear to have the more complete of the two attacks. Things certainly look promising for Gill, who collected his first win as India Test captain in Birmingham, and his men in their quest for a first series win on English soil in nearly two decades.