With the Shubman Gill-led Indian team creating history, becoming the first Asian side to win a Test match at Edgbaston with the 336-run win over England in the second Test, it has also meant that India has now made a comeback to be level in the series, now tied 1-1. India had lost the first Test at Headingley by five wickets and former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri has termed India’s comeback in the series as ‘an unbelievable performance.
“Unbelievable performance. It’s 10 days of test match cricket and India has dominated 90 percent of it. And then to finish it on the winning side, I think always will because it’s a tough pill to swallow. When you have dominated the previous Test match for 80-90 percent of the time and then you lose it on the last day. It’s not easy. You have a gap of seven days. It’s playing on your mind. You sometimes want to get out on the field quite immediately to rectify things and they have done exactly that,” Shastri told Sky Sports.
While Jasprit Bumrah was rested for the second Test, the trio of Akash Deep, Mohammad Siraj and Prasidh Krishna took 17 out of 20 wickets in the Edgbaston Test match. Akash Deep, who was named as a replacement for Bunrah, ended with a ten-wicket haul in the Test match. The 28-year-old had picked up four wickets in England’s first innings before he took six wickets in the second innings to take India home. With Bumrah coming back for the third Test at Lord’s later this week, Shastri was of the view that England’s style of play will be tested against the potent Indian attack. “What I think this attack does now is that Akash Deep gives you control. There are no easy runs. He is the batsman all the time. No, that he has grown in confidence. You have got Bumrah, who will give you control. Akash Deep will give you control. And you know Siraj is a tryer. He’s a wicket-taker. So England has to watch out now. Their style of play will be tested against this attack. Because now it’s a potent attack. They are confident with Bumrah coming back. England will have to make some changes in their attack. I am sorry to say but if the surfaces are good, their bowling attack looks pretty ordinary,” added Shastri.
Shastri also termed the calmness shown by Indian captain Shubman Gill at Edgbaston as the biggest positive for India. “With Bumrah not playing and still to be able to take 20 wickets, I think this team has shown a lot of character and the way they bounced back is fantastic. Even the Shubman spoke with Nasser (Hussain) just now. He is measured, he is calm and he is grounded. He takes it one game at a time and for me, that’s one of the most positive things to come out for India. As a young captain, who is leading the way,” said Shastri.
