The brilliant bowlers of Birmingham 

In a Test match that saw India score over a 1000 runs over two innings to seize a historic away win, the most incredible feat on the flattest of pitches in Birmingham came from the team’s bowling attack – a recognition that will perhaps remain somewhat buried under the weight of captain Shubman Gill’s heroics with the bat. The 430 combined runs (269 and 161) that flowed from his bat will forever be cherished by their maker and remembered by the fans, but the changes to the bowling personnel that Gill made as a leader following the loss in Leeds will possibly give India’s new Test captain just as much satisfaction as his display with the bat, if not a tiny bit more.

For, when Gill lost the toss and announced his playing eleven for the Edgbaston Test, many wondered (and rightly so) if he and coach Gautam Gambhir had missed a trick by not picking the wicket-taking option of Kuldeep Yadav, especially in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah, the indisputable leader of the bowling attack, had rested himself after the loss at Leeds (to manage his workload he had announced that he would play three out of the five Test matches on this tour), a move that openly displeased former player and coach Ravi Shastri, who believed that a player’s availability should be taken out of his hands, especially in an important series (again, rightly so).

Replacing Bumrah was pacer Akash Deep, making his series debut and playing only his third Test away from home. Joining him in the eleven was off-spinner Washington Sundar, mainly to add depth to India’s batting in the lower order. Could they, in the absence of Bumrah and Kuldeep, take the 20 wickets required to lead India to victory? For, to win a Test match, all the runs in the world cannot help if the bowlers cannot dismiss the opposition twice over. The answer was found over the next five days and it was a resounding yes.

In an outstanding display of seam bowling, Akash took half of England’s total wickets himself. The 28-year-old from Bihar claimed four wickets in the first innings and six in the second to finish with a match-haul of double figures; not bad for a man who hadn’t taken a Test five-for before the match started. He was ably assisted, if not led, by Mohammed Siraj, the shoo-in leader of the bowling attack in Bumrah’s absence, who ripped through England in the first innings with his own 6-for. Which of course meant that Akash and Siraj took all 10 wickets between them in the first innings, but it was the seven that they would inflict together in the second innings that perhaps mattered most.

With an improbable target of 608 runs for England to chase down in the final innings, even the ever-attack-minded hosts’s strategy would’ve been to play for a draw. But in the few minutes that they got late on Day Four, India’s new-ball pair got rid of the opposition’s top-order. Akash removed opener Ben Duckett and No.3 Ollie Pope, both for ducks, in successive balls, while Siraj took care of the other opener Zak Crawley. Only seven wickets were needed for India’s maiden win in Birmingham (in nine attempts) on the final day, but a morning spell of gloom and rain ensured that England were still in it, especially after 10 overs were docked from the day’s play.

The rain, though, freshened the pitch ever so slightly and Akash weighed in. He nicked off England’s best bet in such circumstances, Joe Root, early on, before returning to dismiss wicketkeeper Jamie Smith, who had remained unbeaten on a score of 184 in the first innings and was batting on 88 in the second. That was Akash’s fifth wicket of the innings and his sixth, that of tailender Brydon Carse, caught by Gill, sealed both the win and a perma-smile on the catcher’s face.

“They [Akash and Siraj] took 17 wickets. That itself is a big, big achievement coming into this Test match, especially without Jasprit bhai,” Gill said in the press conference that followed him being named Player of the Match. “There were a lot of questions if we would be able to take those 20 wickets. And the way these two guys delivered was just outstanding. I have no words to describe it.”

In this case, he didn’t need the words. His actions, with bat and captaincy both, were more than enough.

Akash DeepBirmingham TestEdgbastonIndia-EnglandIndian cricketSiraj