India vs England: Key Challenges and Strategies for the Second Test

India faces a tough task as they get ready for the second Test against England. They will probably miss Jasprit Bumrah. They need to bounce back after a surprising loss. This came even after scoring 835 runs and having five centurions. This has happened only three times in history. Two of those losses came in the last 12 months, which is a concern.

Most importantly, India is behind 1-0 in the series.

What Needs to Improve

Coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill have two main jobs. First, they need to stop repeating simple mistakes. These mistakes can grow and cost them a lot. Second, they should take a good, hard look at their performance.

Bumrah Needs More Help

India has lost two of their last three Tests even when Bumrah took five wickets. This happened again in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG in December 2024. It shows that Bumrah needs more help from the other bowlers.

Bumrah can create chances, but the team must grab them. He can make key breaks, but others must back him up. He can’t bowl all day. When he’s not bowling, the other bowlers must keep the pressure on. Even on his bad days, Bumrah is still better than most bowlers at their best.

But even with Bumrah doing well, the whole team needs to bowl well together. In today’s cricket, teams won’t give up easily. If the other bowlers don’t do well, batters will take advantage. All the pressure made by a great start can quickly disappear.

The Shardul Question

India played with four fast bowlers in the first Test. Gambhir said Shardul Thakur was picked as a “bowling allrounder.” But Shardul bowled only six of the 100.4 overs in the first innings. In the second innings, he bowled ten of 82 overs, mostly because of a two-wicket over. Picking a bowler who bats at No. 8 and barely using him doesn’t help in taking 20 wickets.

India needs to make a clear choice here. They have three options:

• If they don’t trust Shardul’s bowling but still want five bowlers, they should pick someone with a better chance of taking wickets. In the current team, that could be Kuldeep Yadav on a pitch like Headingley, or Akash Deep on a fast pitch.

You can’t win a Test without taking 20 wickets. If India picks a bowler and doesn’t use him, they are hurting their own chances.