“Perhaps this time they will win,” said Dilip Vengsarkar, oozing optimism. “There’s always a first.”
Over the phone, we were conversing about India’s poor record at Edgbaston, the venue for the second Test of the ongoing series. It was Thursday evening, and the news of Jasprit Bumrah likely opting out of the game still didn’t reach Vengsarkar. “Why, what happened,” he asked. That it’s not down to any injury and totally about managing the workload of the fast bowler elicited a sharp response from the former India captain. “Aare baap re (oh my God)!” he exclaimed.
Even with Bumrah, India lost at Headingley despite having five centurions and scoring 835 runs over two innings. Without their fast-bowling royalty in Midlands, the tourists will face a far greater degree of difficulty in a Test that they can’t afford to lose.
India have been playing at Edgbaston since 1967, and in the very first innings at this venue, they were bowled out for 92. In their last outing here, in 2022, they couldn’t defend 378 in the fourth innings. India have played eight Tests in Birmingham yet, losing seven. The defeat by an innings and 242 runs in 2011 probably was the most depressing, a game where Alastair Cook toyed with the Indian bowling on his way to 294.
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Even in 1986, when India won the three-match series 2-0 and Vengsarkar ran away with the Man-of-the-Series award, thanks to his match-winning hundreds at Lord’s and Headingley, the tourists couldn’t crack the Edgbaston code.
“Difficult to pinpoint the reason why this has happened,” said Vengsarkar, speaking to RevSportz. “Maybe, it’s one of those things.”
One reason could be that batting, more often than not, has let India down at the venue that is the home ground of Warwickshire County Cricket Club. Over the years, India have gone past 400 only once at Edgbaston. In the lead-up to the second Test, the past might be a cause for concern for a side that has a lower-order full of shrinking violets. England, on the other hand, aren’t only about Ben Duckett’s swagger, Joe Root’s class and Harry Brook’s panache… They have a lower-order full of violets that don’t shrink.
Vengsarkar is still hopeful of a turnaround. “Yes, a comeback is very much possible,” he said, adding a proviso: “Catches have to be taken. If you drop eight catches, how do you expect to win? In fact, to win a Test, you need to convert half chances into catches.”
India made a selection error by not playing Kuldeep Yadav in the first Test. Should he feature in the playing XI at Edgbaston, especially if Bumrah sits out? “Of course, he should play,” contended the ‘Lord of Lord’s’ who was the chief selector when India last won a Test series in England, in 2007.
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