Boria Majumdar in Birmingham
I was in the same press box in 2019 and vividly remember England attacking the Indian spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. They were in top shape ahead of Edgbaston and all of a sudden things changed. The game was played in one of the corner pitches which meant the boundary was short on one side and the English batters targeted the Indian spinners. Things were never the same for the duo thereafter.
This morning one of our colleagues, someone I have regard for, Arani Basu from the Times of India, comes up to me and says, “have you seen”? And instantly I knew what he was referring to. The boundary dimensions have changed here at Edgbaston. Was it pre-decided or was it based on India’s decision to play two spinners? Is it England’s way of using home advantage?
The longest boundary is 65 metres while on other sides it is around 59 or 60 metres. And if you observe things closely on television you will see the boundary rope is at least 10-12 metres inside the perimeter boards.
It is known that England will play aggressively against the Indian spin attack. With short boundaries even top edges could go for a six. Now it is to be seen how India handle this disadvantage and overcome the issue.
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