“We didn't expect”- Brendon McCullum admits England erred at toss; says not rigid with plans

Brendon McCullum said that the partnership between Jamie Smith and Harry Brook gave them balance.

England head coach Brendon McCullum admitted that they erred with the decision to bowl first after winning the toss in the second test against India at Edgbaston. The Shubman Gill-led side proceeded to hammer the hosts by 336 runs to register their maiden test win at the venue and levelled the series 1-1.

After losing the toss and being asked to bat first, India amassed 587 runs, led by 269 from Shubman Gill and fifties from Ravindra Jadeja and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Mohammed Siraj got 6/70 and Akash Deep claimed four wickets as England responded with 407, with Harry Brook (158) and Jamie Smith (184) contributing 303 runs for the sixth wicket.

Shubman Gill scored 161 while KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Ravindra Jadeja each scored fifty runs as India made 427/6d in the second innings. With Jamie Smith getting 88 runs, England collapsed for 271 after needing 608 runs to win. Akash Deep was the match’s star with 6/99 in second innings and 10/187 in the match.

“Did we miss an opportunity there?”- Brendon McCullum on England’s decision at toss

After the game, McCullum expressed his opinion that England’s fortunes were turned around, despite their belief that the pitch should have improved for batting.

Brendon McCullum criticised the “missed opportunity” but described it as “fair” in reference to the error made at the toss when anticipating favourable pitch conditions.

“As the game unfolded, we probably looked back on that toss and said, ‘Did we miss an opportunity there?’, and it’s probably fair. We didn’t expect the wicket would play quite as it did, and hence, we probably got it slightly wrong. It was only a brilliant partnership from Jamie Smith and Harry Brook that gave us any balance in the game throughout the five days,” McCullum said to the Daily Mail.

Despite praising Smith and Brook’s anchoring, Brendon McCullum lamented the lost chance that could have cost him the game once more.

“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,” McCullum added.

Now that the series is tied at one, the Lord’s test from July 10 is sure to be a huge success. Both Ben Stokes and Gill would want to win the third game and get an early series advantage, so the pressure is on for both teams with three games left.

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