‘We ran second for five days,’ McCullum on how England messed up toss in Edgbaston Test defeat

Confidence is good, but overconfidence is not. England perhaps was a bit too confident in pulling off Leeds' result in Birmingham after they decided to bowl first on a flatter Edgbaston wicket against India in the second Test. Ben Stokes’ decision to send India out to bat first cost England, as they were running for second place since day one, team head coach Brendon McCullum reckons. Stokes’ call raised a few eyebrows even before Indian captain Shubman Gill launched marathon knocks across both innings, helping India sit in the driver’s seat before seamer Akash Deep ran riot with a ten-wicket haul.

India batted first and scored a mammoth 587 in the first innings, thanks to a brilliant 269 from Gill. In reply, England posted 407, with Harry Brook and Jamie Smith contributing with respective tons. Mohammed Siraj shut his doubters with a six-wicket haul, while Akash Deep picked four on his maiden outing in the UK.

With the wicket still favouring the batters, the Indian batting line-up continued to make merry, with Gill again hogging all the limelight. Although KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja also completed their respective fifties, Gill smashed 161 in the second innings, breaking multiple records, including becoming the first-ever cricketer to score 250 and 150 in a Test match. Besides, a late declaration on day four helped Team India’s cause, as they beat England by 336 runs at Edgbaston – their maiden Test win at this venue, levelling the five-match series 1-1.

McCullum, looking back at the game and how it unfolded, admitted that they made a blunder at the toss and paid the price for it.

"I think, as the game unfolded, we probably looked back on that toss and said 'Did we miss an opportunity there, and it's probably fair," McCullum said. "We didn't expect that the wicket would play quite as it did, and hence we probably got it slightly wrong. But we did have them 200 for 5 and we weren't able to capitalise on that position, and when you win the toss and bowl you're hoping to, well you're not anticipating the opposition's going to score 580 and then from that point we're behind the game.

"It was only a brilliant partnership from Jamie Smith and Harry Brook which gave us any balance in the game throughout the five days. That's something we've got to look at.

"We're not rigid with our plans. It's just we thought this pitch might get better to bat on as we went through the five days, but as we saw it didn't,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Lord’s in London will host the third Test between India and England starting next Thursday (Jul 10).