ENG vs IND | Edgbaston Test: Talking points ft. marathon man Shubman Gill and surprise package Akash Deep

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India squared the five-match series against England with a comprehensive 336-run win in the second Test in Birmingham on Sunday. With that, the visitors broke the duck at Edgbaston, winning their first Test match in nine appearances at the venue with all to play for when the action moves to Lord’s.

‌India put in a clinical performance against England to win the second Test by 336 runs at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Sunday. The visitors bounced back in style, after being subjected to a morale-sapping five-wicket loss in Leeds last month, to square the five-match series 1-1 with the action moving to Lord’s for the third game. Here are some of the talking points of India’s historic win.

Breaking the duck in Birmingham

This was India’s first win at the Edgbaston in Birmingham in nine Test matches and also India’s biggest victory margin by runs in an overseas game in the longest format. The visitors had lost seven of their last eight matches at this venue, with the only draw coming way back in 1986.

Shubman Gill, the marathon man

Indian skipper Shubman Gill led from the front scoring a double hundred in the first innings before coming up with another century in the second innings. Gill hit 30 fours and three sixes notching up his highest Test score of 269 in the first innings to power India to a formidable 587 in the first innings.

With a knock of 161, including 13 fours and eight sixes, in the second essay, the Indian skipper became the highest run-getter for the country, second overall, in Tests with an overall tally of 430 runs. He also became the only batter to score more than 200 and 150 in the same game in an international match.

With 585 runs from two matches here, Gill is already third in the list of most runs by an Indian batter in a single series in England. Former Indian captains Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli are first and second with 602 runs and 593 runs, respectively. His captaincy seems to have spurred his batting too, notching up the most runs by any player as captain in the first four innings in Tests.

Akash Deep, the surprise package

Coming into the side in place of Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested for the second game, Akash Deep exceeded expectations with his 10-wicket match haul in Birmingham. Akash’s spells with the new ball were impressive as he provided crucial breakthroughs in both innings.

The dismissal of Joe Root in the second innings showed the pacer’s ability with the new cherry turning the game in India’s favour. He finished as the highest wicket-taker in the game with spells of 4/88 and 6/99, respectively.

India’s new-ball conundrum

With Akash Deep’s exceptional showing in this Test, he is certain to take over Prasidh Krishna’s place as the third pacer in the eleven. The Indian team management will have a happy headache deciding who will start India's innings with the ball. Akash and Mohammed Siraj together picked up 17 wickets in the Birmingham Test, the most by any Indian new-ball pair in a Test match in England, in the absence of pace spearhead Bumrah and it will be interesting to see who will partner him when he returns to the fold at Lord’s.

Runs, Runs, Runs everywhere

It has been raining runs during the English summer with both India-England Tests accounting for more than 1650 runs, an average of a mammoth 420 runs per innings. The one-off Test against Zimbabwe also saw England score 565 runs in their only batting essay.

With visiting teams devising their strategies around out-batting England on flat batting decks, the home side will have to recalibrate its much-talked-about Bazball approach in the upcoming Test matches. The Indian captain also made his displeasure clear on the benign surfaces that have been offered for the first two games, highlighting that the game loses its essence and balance without help to bowlers.