India solid on Day 1 but Bumrah's absence and team balance raise deeper questions

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13 hours ago

Shubman Gill's century anchored India to 310/5 on Day 1 of the 2nd Test against England, but questionable team selection, especially the exclusion of Jasprit Bumrah, raises concerns about team's strategy in their series comeback attempt. read more
Shubman Gill may have scored the crucial hundred that tied India's innings together on day one, his 114 at number four the backbone of a more than respectable 310/5; however, after a thrilling day's play, he may well not be the captain who will go home the happiest.
Inserting India in almost perfect batting conditions, on a surface with very few demons, England would have been well aware that a repeat of Headingley, where the tourists piled on the runs for the loss of very few wickets, was highly likely again.
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Instead, they looked much-improved with the ball, giving the impression that they are only growing into this series. Chris Woakes was very disappointing at Headingley, his performance one of his worst on English soil. Today, he was back to the sort of consistency that has come to be expected of him, in particular unlucky not to take more wickets in the morning session.
Brydon Carse bowled with pace and menace, despite the placid surface, and Ben Stokes captained intelligently and provided the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal at a crucial moment. In short, even on a day that ultimately ended pretty much honours even, England looked like a team with real forward momentum, while India appeared a little uncertain in themselves.
India's team selection raises eyebrows
In truth, India put themselves on the back foot before a ball had even been bowled, their team selection for this Test raising more than a few eyebrows.
The headline grabber was, of course, the omission of Jasprit Bumrah – predetermined to only be playing three Tests in this series, he was always going to be left out at some point, but it felt an odd decision at this stage on multiple fronts.
The first is schedule-related. With the management of Bumrah's workload – after his injury layoff – the driving force behind his planned absences, this seems a strange time to give him a rest. There has been a week's gap between the first Test at Headingley and this one – ample time for a fast bowler to fully recover from the toils of a five day game. This then seemed like the perfect opportunity for Bumrah to play back-to-back Tests without causing undue strain on his body.
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Only multiplying this is the fact that if there ever was a point in a series that India needed the world's best fast bowler on their side then it is this one. After the defeat at Headingley, the tourists' margin for error in this series has been considerably reduced. Another defeat might well be terminal for their prospects – the list of teams who have come back from 2-0 in a series is monumentally small.
On top of that this Test is being played on a surface that might generously be described as benign, and with Bumrah's excellence the one area where there is a vast gulf in class between these two sides, having a bowler who can create something out of nothing – no matter the conditions – could have been a hugely advantageous point of difference.
However, the handling of Bumrah's selection has not been the only place off the field that Indian thinking has looked muddled; the makeup of the side as a whole appeared curious from the outside.
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Arguably, one of India's biggest mistakes at Headingley was neither committing fully to the strengths of their batting nor bowling attacks. The selection of Shardul Thakur, in an attempt to bolster both, ultimately did neither – the allrounder ultimately contributing only a pair of cheap final day wickets and five runs across two innings.
Their response to this potentially match-losing bit of first Test hedging? Double down at Edgbaston, with Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar brought into the side. Instead of leaning into either batting or bowling strength, India have once again opted to try and find that elusive sweet spot in the middle straddling the two.
To an outsider, it appears they have simply reinforced the batting strength of the tail while making their top order weaker and without strengthening their bowling attack – it's a bold strategy, let's see if it pays off.
There is, of course, a long way to go and India have not started badly in this Test, however, they may well rue the shaky foundations on which they are trying to build their comeback in the series.
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