When asked about the pitch used in the second Test match between India and England at Edgbaston, Australia skipper Pat Cummins responded cheekily. Following Australia's 133-run victory over the West Indies in Grenada, when bowlers had significantly more assistance than during the India-England Test match, Cummins remarked.
After losing the toss and being asked to bat first, India amassed 587 runs, led by 269 from Shubman Gill and fifties from Ravindra Jadeja and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Mohammed Siraj got 6/70 and Akash Deep claimed 4 wickets as England responded with 407, with Harry Brook (158) and Jamie Smith (184) contributing 303 runs for the sixth wicket.
Shubman Gill scored 161 while KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Ravindra Jadeja each scored fifty runs as India made 427/6d in the second innings. With Jamie Smith getting 88 runs, England collapsed for 271 after needing 608 runs to win. Akash Deep was the match's star with 6/99 and 10/187.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Cummins said, “I wasn’t (watching India vs England), probably Marnus (Labuschagne) was, we’ll keep an eye on it. Who’d want to be a bowler over there? Well, I wouldn’t be surprised (over Edgbaston wicket being the third flattest wicket in English history). Looking at Test cricket his week over here compared to that, looks like two different sports. It looks like it is going to be a good series, 1-1 now.”
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Mohammed Siraj picked 7 wickets in the match, including 6/70 in the first innings. Akash Deep stood out with 4/88 and 6/99 in the match, his maiden fifer and ten-fer in a Test, while Shubman Gill amassed 430 runs as India drew level in the series 1-1.
