Who gave them a shot at winning without Jasprit Bumrah? Next to nobody. Perhaps not even the team management, which preferred batting depth over specialist bowlers for the Edgbaston Test. But an egged-on, galvanised Indian team produced a memorable all-round show, condemning the Bazball-happy England to a 336-run hiding in Birmingham on Sunday (July 6, 2025). Shubman Gill's men fired on all cylinders to seal their first-ever victory at the venue and level the five-match Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 1-1.
Cliched as it is, Gill truly led from the front, amassing an astonishing 430 runs through the course of the game while marshalling his troops effectively. Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj revelled in the responsibility of leading the seam attack in Bumrah's absence, both snaring fifers to give the think tank a happy headache for the third Test at Lord's.
The 28-year-old Akash Deep ended up with his maiden five-wicket haul and a match-haul of 10 wickets to boot, featuring figures of 6/99 in the England second innings. The hosts were all out for 271 in pursuit of an improbable 608, with a fitting end to the ICC World Test Championship match as Akash Deep bowled and Gill caught it to dismiss Brydon Carse for the final English wicket.
If Gill, with his magnificent batting (269 and 161) set it up, Akash deserves as much credit for his lion-hearted effort on a track which was slow not so conducive for pace bowling.
Rain delayed the start of the day by an hour and 40 minutes, reducing the day’s quota of overs to 80 with England resuming their second innings at 72 for three. While Mohammed Siraj (seven wickets in the match) bowled like the leader of the attack in the first innings, Akash built on his first-innings gains to strike twice with new ball early on day five.
For England, Jamie Smith (88) fought a lonely battle before being dismissed by a slow bouncer from Akash. Ben Stokes and Co also felt the pressure from the Indian spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, who got the ball to drift and straighten.
With Jasprit Bumrah bound to return for the Lord's Test, the Indian bowling threatens to be a potent force and as the Gill-led batters also mounted 350-plus totals in each of the four innings, the pressure is now squarely on the home team.
