Had the Indian skipper Shubman Gill addressed the media after taking a look at the Edgbaston pitch, he would have had all the answers to most of the questions thrown at him. Like was the case in the first Test at Headingley, Gill started the press conference with a short disclaimer that gave him the license to stonewall any query about the team that will be taking the field on Wednesday for the second Test of the series where India trails 0-1.
“We are going to have a final look at the pitch today and see what kind of combination that we want to go with,” he stated. Attempts were made to get something out of him but Gill, only in his second Test as captain, came across as a seasoned pro. He spoke a lot but revealed nothing.
Going by Gill’s answers, the Indian playing XI wasn’t decided till 1.15 pm local time on the day before the match. It was only after the media interaction was done with, that Gill would head to the central square where he met coach Gautam Gambhir and chairman of national selectors Ajit Agarkar. The ground staff would soon push the hovercraft-like pitch cover away for India’s decision-maker to have a look at the surface.
Gambhir and Agarkar kept a distance and Gill did the mandatory ‘pitch-pressing’ that captains are expected to do on match eve. Photographers clicked furiously. Post the pitch inspection, the three had a lengthy chat followed by Gambhir and Gill having their own small meeting. The two squatted on the turf and Agarkar, in the background, was having a word with bowling coach Morne Morkel, which was a picture that best captured the Indian team’s dilemma. At around 2 pm, they all dispersed, possibly the calls had been taken. Unlike the English, who have retained the playing XI from Headingley, this was not a simple selection for India.
Doubts, riders
During the 20 minute-press conference, Gill didn’t confirm the inclusions and exclusions but he did share the doubts clouding the minds of India’s think tank. Every decision, it seems, came with a difficult rider.
On Monday, the team’s assistant coach had said that India would play two spinners. Gill said the same and also the reason for it. “In the last match, if we had an extra spinner in the fourth innings, the game could have been better. There were a few patches in the wicket that could have been exploited. And whenever Jaddu bhai (Ravindra Jadeja) was bowling, we felt that chances were being created,” he said. “We felt that it’s easier to contain the runs than pace bowlers. Especially when the ball gets old.”
So will that spinner be Kuldeep Yadav? It was while answering the question, that Gill mentioned the trouble of playing two spinners in England. “The only thing that you have to see is how you manage the second spinner on Day One, if you are bowling,” he said. His argument being that since the pitches help the pacers only a short while, the second spinner would have no role as pacers would get to utilise the temporary conditions. “If at all there is anything on these kinds of wickets, it is only on Day One, in the first couple of sessions. So, we have to take a call on that and see how you would manage the second spinner on Day 1. That is the main call that you have to make on these kinds of wickets.” So what’s the call? “That you will know tomorrow.”
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Few questions later, Gill was pressed again. Wicket-taking spinner or containing spinner? “I just want to see the wicket one last time before we decide on the playing XI.”
At the end of the press conference, an English journalist reminded Gill about India’s Test record at Edgbaston – in the 8 Tests, they have lost 7 and drawn one. “I don’t really believe in it. I believe the Indian cricket team that has come here is the best Indian cricket team and we are able to beat any side,” he said.
But the challenge for India is to put the best playing eleven on the field on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Kuldeep Yadav and Arshdeep Singh – among the few Indians who turned up at optional nets – jogged, trained, got catches and did their nets. It was something they did before the last Test, the one they missed.
