ENG vs IND Preview | Bumrah question looms large as India look to level series at Edgbaston

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Jasprit Bumrah holds the key to Shubman Gill's new-look India as they head to Edgbaston trailing the series 1-0 against England

India will head into the second Test, at Birmingham on July 2, hoping to exorcise the demons of Leeds after succumbing by five wickets in the series opener. The main talking point remains around Jasprit Bumrah's participation, while England might field Jofra Archer for the first time since 2021.

The first Test between England and India more than lived up to its grand billing with the encounter stretching into the last session of Day 5 where all three results were possible. However, how the inexperienced visiting unit holds up under a rookie captain after a heartbreaking loss where they could not defend 350-plus on a spicy pitch is a question that only time will answer. The fact that they have already used one of their three trump cards available for the series -- all named Jasprit Bumrah -- only exacerbates their situation even further. On the upside, four of their top five scored tons at Headingley, including one in each innings for talisman Rishabh Pant that saw him break a plethora of records.

England are not without problems of their own either. Skipper Ben Stokes' struggles with the bat have continued, while the bowling attack looked far from subpar for the majority of the encounter. Were it not for horrid lower-order collapses for India who crumbled from 430/3 to 471 all-out and 287/3 to 364 all-out, the hosts could have been practically ruled out of contention for a win as early as Day 3. However, the addition of Jofra Archer might be all it takes to revitalize the inexperienced pace unit, the pacer bringing with him a wealth of experience and X-factor that England have direly missed since the retirements of Stuart Broad and James Anderson. All things said and done, both teams will go into the contest as equals, meaning uncontrollables such as the toss and weather conditions might end up playing the decisive role.

Form Guide

ENG: W W L W W

IND: L L L D L

ENG vs IND Head-to-Head in Tests

It took India 20 years since their first official Test against England to register a victory over their former colonial rulers. By the start of the 1980s, England's head-to-head lead had grown to 19 but in the next 10 years, both teams split the results at four-a-piece. The 1990s became the first decade where India ended up as the more successful outfit, winning three and losing just two, and kept consistently reducing the chasm between them until the tables turned again in the previous decade where England won 13 while India emerged triumphant in just seven. Nevertheless, the Men in Blue have hit back with nine victories compared to their rivals' five since the start of the decade but England still remain significantly ahead from a historical viewpoint.

ENG 52-35 IND

Pitch and Weather

One of the most historic venues in world cricket that has played hosts to arguably the greatest ODI and Test of the past 30 years, Edgbaston has over recent times seemed to forego its sticky identity and grow flatter by the year. A first look at the pitch has revealed a healthy covering of grass but as was the case in Headingley, it might be trimmed down significantly a day before the Test is slated to begin. Thus, expect some early help for the pacers before the deck becomes a batting haven, while spinners might come into the picture too over the last two days. Interestingly, all four Tests in Birmingham since the turn of the decade have been won by the team chasing and with England already inclined to bowl first, the captain winning the toss on Wednesday might have a straightforward choice to make.

As is the case with every Test in the English summer, the threat of rain looms over Edgbaston pretty much throughout the course of the encounter. While an evening thunderstorm is forecast for Day 1, the last two days are expected to experience showers across the morning and afternoon. Nevertheless, the weather maps remain clear enough to allow a full-match and a result, regardless of the perpetual par-for-course cloud cover.

Team News

England will not be very keen to alter a winning formula after they ran out winners in Headingley but the potential of playing Jofra Archer for the first time since 2021 might be too tempting to pass on. With Chris Woakes the most experienced name in the line-up and Brydon Carse the most effective amongst the specialist pacers in Leeds, Josh Tongue is most likely to miss out given his raw pace can be more than replciated by Jofra Archer.

India, meanwhile, have bigger questions to deal with. Whether Jasprit Bumrah should play remains on top of that list, given the pacer is slated to play only three of the five Tests, but the possibility of levelling the series might force the pacer to be included even if the original plan dictated otherwise. The side's failure to take 20 wickets would also raise questions over their tactic of fielding four pacers, of which Shardul Thakur bowled just 16 overs across two innings, and the pace all-rounder thus might give way to left-arm wristpinner Kuldeep Yadav who decimated England at home last year.

ENG Probable XI: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir

IND Probable XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Jasprit Bumrah