The second Test of the ongoing five-match series between India and England, newly christened the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, will be played at Edgbaston. While the ground may be a well-established name in the annals of cricket history, this will only be India’s ninth Test there, and the fourth of this century. Shubman Gill and Co. would be hoping to bounce back in this match, having suffered a bruising five-wicket loss in Headingley but they have history against them – India have never won any of the Tests they have played at Edgbaston, with their best result being a draw in July 1986.
All three of the Tests that India have played at Edgbaston since the turn of the century have been memorable affairs, some that the visitors would look at fondly, others not so much. With the second Test of the ongoing underway on Wednesday, lets recap India’s three Test matches at Edgbaston in this century:
1. 3rd Test, 2011: England won by an innings and 242 runs
Indian had come into this tour after the highs of winning the 2011 World Cup but by the time they had reached Edgbaston for the third Test, it had become pretty clear that they are being brought crashing down to earth. MS Dhoni’s men had lost the first Test by 196 runs and the second by 319. Hopes of a turnaround were meagre and it reduced even further after India were all out for 224 batting first, with Dhoni’s 77 off 96 balls being the highest score. Alastair Cook had a pretty unforgettable couple of Test matches before that, having made scores of 12, 1, 2 and five. Well, he gave a reminder of what he is capable of by batting more than 90 overs and grinding out 294 runs. England declared once he missed out on his triple century, having got to a score 710/7 in a whopping 188.1 overs. Once again, Dhoni was the highest scorer with an unbeaten 74 in 79 balls but India never stood a chance. It could be argued that Mike Atherton’s pointed questions for Dhoni in the post-match presentation ceremony is as famous as the game itself.
2. 1st Test, 2018: England won by 31 runs
This was probably a match that India should’ve won but the efforts of all-rounders Sam Curran and Ben Stokes with the ball did them in. However, it also marked the start of a series to remember for Virat Kohli. England were all out for 287 batting first with Ravichandran Ashwin taking four wickets and Kohli was yet to go past fifty when India were down to their last four wickets with a score of 13. The Indian captain then expertly farmed strike with the tail and went on to smash 149 in 225 balls, an innings that was remembered fondly by a number of fans online when he announced his retirement from Test cricket last month. Ishant Sharma took five wickets as India then dismissed England for 180 runs, thus needing to chase a target of 194. It wasn’t to be though. Kohli scored 51 but Ben Stokes led the English charge with figures of 4/40. India were all out for 162.
3. 5th Test, 2022: England won by 7 wickets
India’s first brush with Bazball. There is an argument that had this Test been played as it was originally scheduled at Old Trafford in September the previous year, India would’ve won it and thus recorded a rare Test series win in England. As things turned out, the match was postponed due to Covid-related problems and held in July 2022, by which time England had let go of their ponderous ways under Joe Root and Chris Silverwood and fully immersed themselves in the uber aggressive mindset of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum. India had decided to keep up with it too, seemingly, accumulating 416 runs batting first with Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja scoring centuries and and sharing a 222-run stand that came in just 239 balls. Jasprit Bumrah, captaining India for the first time, even broke Brian Lara’s record for most runs scored in an over, with Stuart Broad conceding as many as 35 runs in the 84th over. India then even managed to take a lead of 132 runs after England were all out for 284 and then eventually set a target of 378 for the hosts to chase. And then, Bazball hit the tourists like a ton of bricks. England had never chased a target as high as 378 before. They did it with seven wickets to spare, with Root (142* off 173 balls) and Jonny Bairstow (114* off 145 balls) finishing with unbeaten centuries. Their partnership was unbeaten on 269 off 316 balls.
