After dominating England with the bat and the ball during the Test match, former England cricketers Nasser Hussain and Stuart Broad are adamant that India should win at Edgbaston. This comes after England was left 72/3 at the end of day 4, in their chase of 608 runs to win the match.
After losing the toss, India was asked to bat first and scored 587 runs in the first innings. India skipper Shubman Gill was the star with 269 runs, the most by an Indian captain and by an Indian in England in Tests.
The other contributors were Washington Sundar (42) and Ravindra Jadeja (89), together with Yashasvi Jaiswal (87). Thanks mostly to the 303-run partnership between Jamie Smith (184*) and Harry Brook (158), England responded with 407 runs. For India, Mohammed Siraj grabbed 6/40 and Akash Deep claimed 4 wickets.
Following that, India reached 427/6d in the second innings, with Shubman Gill leading the way once more with 161, followed by fifties from KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Ravindra Jadeja. This helped India set a target of 608 runs for England to pursue.
Nasser Hussain and Stuart Broad, former England cricketers, spoke about India’s performance in this Test and stated that given how they’ve out-bowled and out-batted England in this match, India should win this.
"If you look at the nine days of the Test series, they've probably won more, in fact, they've definitely won more sessions than England, yet they find themselves one nil down," Nasser Hussain told Sky Sports.
"That's why they needed this evening and that's why they need tomorrow because they've played so much good cricket in two Test matches now, they feel that they should go to Lord's 1-1. Excellent, excellent with the bat and then the ball. It's a real worry that their seamers got more out of this pitch with the new ball than England did. That new ball burst from Akash Deep was absolutely wonderful," he added.
Stuart Broad then revealed why India has generated more swing than the England pacers and lauded Akash Deep for his splendid spell.
"I think when surfaces do dry up a little bit, the new ball can nip off the sort of cracks or the drier surfaces. That was just an outstanding spell from Akash Deep today, bringing the stumps into play. I think he's slightly shorter than Carse and Tongue, so he can bowl a slightly different length to hit the stumps,” Broad said.
"I think India, we have to be honest, India have outbowled England in this Test match and outbatted them, and that's why they're 536 runs ahead with a whole day to go, needing seven wickets to win the Test match," he said.
Broad confessed that when England pursued 371 runs on the final day of the Headingley Test, he assumed the series would be one-sided.
"They've been superb this week and I must admit, I thought after that day five at Headingley, I thought this series could be gone when you concede that many to lose a Test match when you've controlled the Test match like they did. How do you pick yourself up? And they've done it superbly," said Broad.
