Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root made a mockery of the Indian bowling attack, helping England record their highest ever chase of 378 runs with minimum fuss to level the five-match Test series 2-2. England were rattled on the fourth afternoon by stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah but the Indian bowling attack looked clueless in the second innings. India's third and fourth pacers – Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur – hardly made an impact, leading to a debate over Ravichandran Ashwin's absence from the playing eleven.
The seasoned tweaker could have chipped in with a couple of crucial wickets, thanks to his experimental off-spin bowling. Ravindra Jadeja, the lone spinner in the Indian set-up, bowled over the wicket throughout the game and returned wicketless in both innings.
Former Indian player and ex-national selector Jatin Paranjape believes the team should have gone with Ashwin instead of Jadeja, who looked far from threatening at Edgbaston. "I don't think so. You can understand why they picked Bumrah as captain; the powers that be must have thought that Bumrah as a captain is a good choice. Sometimes it is better to err on the side of caution, and that in itself turns out to be a better decision," Jatin Paranjape told Jamie Alter on his Glance chat show, The Alternate View.
"I can understand why they played Shardul because he had done well in the Test match at The Oval where he could have been the Man of the Match. But here you had R Ashwin in the squad. It is like keeping your Ferrari parked in the garage."
{{/usCountry}}"I can understand why they played Shardul because he had done well in the Test match at The Oval where he could have been the Man of the Match. But here you had R Ashwin in the squad. It is like keeping your Ferrari parked in the garage."
{{/usCountry}}"The colour of the wicket was not your usual English wicket and Edgbaston is known to turn a little bit, so I thought India could have gone with two spinners. It gives you a little more control on the game if nothing is happening. Also, when you have three seamers and then you play a fourth one, someone gets under-bowled. You cannot use all four; it just doesn't come into play. But then hindsight is 20/20 vision," he added.
England's pursuit of 378 in Birmingham followed successful chases of 277, 299 and 296 during a 3-0 whitewash of world champions New Zealand. The hosts relied heavily on Jonny Bairstow, who notched up centuries in both innings.
Bairstow, who remained unbeaten on 114, combined with former skipper Joe Root (142 not out) as the Poms defeated India with two whole sessions to spare. The pair put on an unbeaten stand of 269 for the fourth wicket to pull out a sensational victory in Birmingham.
Bumrah, leading the side in place of the Covid-hit Rohit Sharma, was the tourists' player of the series with 23 wickets at 22.47 – a record for an Indian bowler during a Test campaign in England. Root was named England's player of the series that started under his captaincy in 2021, while Bairstow claimed the player-of-the-match trophy.