At the end of Day 2 of the 2nd Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham, India is in a good position against England. England is 510 runs behind with 7 wickets remaining.
Yashasvi Jaiswal started well with 87, but Shubman Gill was the star with 269, breaking records in the process. Ravindra Jadeja added 89 off 137 balls to take India to 587.
India got early wickets with the ball. Akash Deep got rid of Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope for 0 and Mohammed Siraj got Zak Crawley. Joe Root and Harry Brook added 52 runs but England is still in a tough spot.
The question is can India turn this good start into a win and level the series? Can Shubman Gill’s performance inspire the team to keep their hopes alive?
India has won only once after scoring over 500 in the first innings in England. This was in 2002 when Sourav Ganguly’s team beat Nasser Hussain’s England by an innings and 46 runs at Headingley, Leeds. Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman all scored centuries with Dravid being the Player of the Match. India scored 628 for 8 declared in that game.
Only once in Test cricket history has a team scored more runs than India’s first innings total and lost. This was in 2017 when Mushfiur Rahim’s Bangladesh declared at 595 for 8 against Kane Williamson’s New Zealand at the Basin Reserve in Wellington and lost by 7 wickets.
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India has lost only once after scoring over 500 runs in the first innings. This was in 2008 when Anil Kumble’s team lost to Ricky Ponting’s Australia by 4 wickets at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Despite leading by 69 runs after scoring 532 in the first innings with Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman both scoring centuries, India could not hold on.
England can take heart from past events. They have conceded over 550 runs in the first innings 4 times and still won. 3 of those wins were during the Bazball period under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum. So, England still has a chance.
