India has lost 7 out of 8 Tests played at Edgbaston. Will the second Test see an Indian win at last?
After suffering a heartbreaking five wicket defeat at Headingley despite dominating much of the Test match, India, led by the young Shubman Gill, will want to win the second Test in Birmingham, starting on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
Edgbaston has been a fortress India has yet to breach.
Their dreams have often crumbled at this venue -- boasting a dismal record of seven losses and one draw in eight attempts, their second-worst at any Test ground.
Three out of their eight defeats have been quite comprehensive -- by an innings, which clearly underlines their struggles at the venue.
Just like the recent loss in the Headingley Test, India's last match at Birmingham in July 2022 was a case of missed opportunities -- finishing on the losing side despite being superior over the first couple of days.
The Jasprit Bumrah-led India were superior with the bat, posting a healthy 416 in the first innings courtesy of centuries from Rishabh Pant (146) and Ravindra Jadeja (104) after being put into bat. India had taken a 132-run first innings lead as Mohammed Siraj bowled with a lot of fire to claim 4/66, while Bumrah bagged 3/68.
But Skipper Ben Stokes led England's fine comeback taking 4/33 as India were shot out for 245 in their second innings as Pant followed up his century with another sparkling innings of 57, while Cheteshwar Pujara, playing as the opener, made a resolute 66.
Chasing 378 for victory, England's Bazball approach paid handsomely as Joe Root smashed a brilliant 142 not out and Jonny Bairstow slammed an unbeaten 114 in the rescheduled fifth Test match, which was postponed following COVID-19 during the India-England series in 2021.
Flash back to 2018, and it's a similar tale of missed chances. Virat Kohli's majestic 149 kept India in the hunt, but a shaky batting collapse in the chase of 194 -- despite Ishant Sharma's fiery 5/51 -- saw them fall short again, with Ben Stokes' 4/40 sealing their fate.
In 2011, a strong Indian batting line-up featuring greats like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, V V S Laxman, Virender Sehwag and current Coach Gautam Gambhir failed to get past 300 in both innings.
A dominant England raked up a huge total of 710/7 declared set up by Alastair Cook's 294 and Eoin Morgan's 104 as they thrashed India by an innings and 242 runs.
India's Edgbaston woes date back to 1967, when Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi-led India suffered a 132-run defeat against England, who were captained by Brian Close.
Ajit Wadekar was the captain in India's next Test at Edgbaston seven years later in 1974, but a below-par showing with the bat saw them suffer a thumping defeat by an innings and 78 runs. Opener David Lloyd sent the Indian bowlers comprising spin greats Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna and S Venkataraghavan on a leather hunt with a cracking knock of 214 not out, while Captain Mike Denness scored 100. India managed just 165 and 216 in the two innings.
In their next Test in Birmingham in 1979, India suffered the same fate as England romped to a thumping victory by an innings and 83 runs. David Gower (200) and Geoff Boycott (155) dominated the Indian bowling to power England to a huge 633/5 declared, while India despite having legendary names in their batting line-up in Sunil Gavaskar, Gundappa Viswanath, Dilip Vengsarkar and Mohinder Amarnath failed to live up to expectations.
After three successive defeats, India managed to halt the losing run at Edgbaston when Kapil Dev-led India played out a draw in 1986 -- the only Test when they have managed to avoid defeat.
Chasing 236 for victory on the final day, India looked on course for victory at 101/1 before spinner Phil Edmonds triggered a mini collapse as the visitors lost four wickets for four runs. With rain and bad light affecting play in the post-tea session, Mohammad Azharuddin (29 from 106 balls) and Kiran More (31 from 125 balls) defended resolutely to deny England late on the final day and take India to a creditable draw.
India returned to Birmingham after a decade. The Mohammad Azharuddin-led visitors could not reverse the trend as once again batting became their bane. They managed moderate totals just above despite a century from Sachin Tendulkar (122) in the second innings as England overpowered them by eight wickets.
Once again India will look towards Pant to provide the spark with the bat. His twin centuries in Headingley went in vain but he could take inspiration from his previous good showing at this venue, when he hit a century and a fifty in the last match played here, in 2022.
On the other hand, England haven't been invincible at Edgbaston in recent year, winning just two of their last five Tests -- losing twice to Australia and one against New Zealand. Before that, they had won six out of eight Tests, while drawing two.
Joe Root enjoys an excellent record in Birmingham, with 920 runs in nine Tests -- the most by any batter at this venue -- at an average of 70.76, with three centuries and five fifties.
On the bowling front, James Anderson made most of the seamer-friendly conditions at Edgbaston, to bag the most wickets -- 52 in 14 Tests at an average of 24.28, while his long-term pace partner Stuart Board was a close second with 49 wickets in 11 Tests, averaging 23.81.
Interestingly, in four out of the last five Tests, the team winning the toss has elected to bat, but only one has finished on the winning side.
The weather could once again play a part with some rain forecast on the opening day on Wednesday, July 2 and on the last two days on Saturday and Sunday. BBC Weather says Birmingham could witness some light rain showers and a gentle breeze on July 2, 4 and 5.
As India confront their Edgbaston jinx, the spotlight will once again be on Shubman Gill's young brigade to script a turnaround and rewrite history. A failure to bounce back in the second Test could see the series slip out of their grasp.