Lower order batting collapses or ineffective bowling – which is the bigger concern for India ahead of ENG vs IND 2025 2nd Test?

Lower-order collapses and Ineffective bowling were two of the chief reasons behind Team India's loss to England in the first Test at Headingley, Leeds. Shubman Gill's era as Test captain, despite a lot of positives, ended on a sour note, with the visitors heading into Birmingham with a 0-1 deficit.

Collapses of 41-7 and 31-6 in the first and the second innings, respectively, were both glaring and match-costing to a degree. On the other hand, there was an appalling bowling display, which has played an equal role, if not more, in the five-wicket loss as England chased down 371 in the final innings.

The fact that both these elements are weirdly entangled only makes the team's task to fix it, that much harder. There is no obvious and outright solution to this predicament, only a wild gamble. If they prioritise amending the lower-order collapses by including an extra batter or a batting all-rounder, it worsens their bowling potency.

On the other hand, if an extra frontline bowler is fielded, it elongates the tail, making it susceptible to more collapses, which in turn means more pressure on the batters above.

On that note, let us dive deep into Team India's issues regarding the lower-order batting collapses and bowling inefficiency.

#1 Taking 20 wickets always takes precedence over lower-order runs

The ineffective bowling affects Team India in several ways. Firstly, the ineffective bowling, which largely means the bowling efforts of Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, and Ravindra Jadeja, hampers India's ability to pick up 20 wickets, and also increases the load on Jasprit Bumrah.

The ineffective bowling will continue to haunt Team India, even more than it did in Headingley, in the matches where the spearhead does not play. Sure, there is potential and variety in the pace bowling attack, but there is also inexperience, and the fact that the performances have not justified their strength on paper.

During the pre-match press conference, Team India skipper Shubman Gill had asserted that the team will prioritise taking 20 wickets above everything else.

"You can't win a Test match without taking 20 wickets, no matter how many runs you have scored. So, that has been one of our key discussion points, you know, how we're gonna take 20 wickets. And there might be a case, you know, where we could only be going with some pure batters and you could see a bowling allrounder and three to four premier fast bowlers or proper bowlers," Gill had said (via ESPN Cricinfo).

The fact that India only picked up five wickets in the second innings on a Day 5 pitch, and struggled to clean up the tail in the first, means that bowling played a bigger hand in the loss.

Yes, the collapses affected India's lead in both innings, and their momentum, but judging by the way the Indian bowlers bowled on Day 5, England had a real shot at even India's intended target of 450.

Also, blaming players for not being good in their secondary skillset (bowlers' and all-rounders' batting) is far more unfair than blaming players for not being good in their primary skillset (bowlers' bowling).

#2 Bowling is a non-negotiable foundation while lower-order runs are always feast or famine

In recent years, Team India's collapses overseas are not a new problem, but their bowling inefficiency is. The woes with their lower order were not built overnight, and nor will they disappear in a day.

The collapses have not hampered India's prospects in the past because of the fact that they had a bowling attack to pull things back, almost always. But that is not the case now. Even with the lower-order collapse, India had 471 on the board, but the bowlers failed to back the top-order batters, returning just a six-run lead for them to build on.

Lower-order contribution is a spectrum, and thus, it is not a source of assured and constant productivity, nor should it be.

The same set of fans who are blaming the lower-order batters for the collapses and the defeat, were the ones applauding when Akash Deep and Jasprit Bumrah saved the team from follow-on at the Gabba, or when Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah flipped the game at Lord's in 2021.

In Test cricket, one should accept that once the recognized pure batters are gone, the score could literally be anything, especially when it comes to England, where the conditions fluctuate from minute to minute.

With that being said, although expectations are not high from the lower-order in terms of run scoring, that does not mean they do not need to chip in. There is always room for improvement, and if the lower-order manages to even ramp up their output by five runs apiece, and improve their shot selection, it would make a lot of difference.

Lower-order batters from around the world, like ones from South Africa and Australia, have worked on their batting game in the recent past, and it shows. The likes of Josh Hazlewood and Kagiso Rabada have helped the tail wag for their teams on so many occasions, and there is no reason why the Indian tail cannot do the same with a little guidance and dedicated efforts behind the scenes.

#3 India's pure batters has shown immense promise to negate lower-order blushes, but the support bowlers have not shown such assurance

In a silver lining of sorts, Team India's collapses began only after they were in a very secure position in the game. The credit for that goes to the pure batters, who responded with five individual hundreds. Granted, that may not be the case every time, and a lower-order collapse following a poor display by the pure batters would spell some serious trouble. But the top order has shown enough early promise for that not to be a case on a regular basis.

However, the bowling inefficiency, and the over-dependency on Bumrah have been going on for quite some time, and the recent Test record reflects that as well. It is a problem that needs to be amended for them to avoid slipping into their old pattern of being steamrolled overseas.

The fact that there is a massive gulf between Jasprit Bumrah and the rest of the bowling attack, and Mohammed Siraj being unable to make an impact apart from sporadic bursts despite being an experienced bowler, are some major issues, which supersede a one-off batting collapse. Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur leaking runs with their inability to bowl in the right areas for a prolonged period are just fundamental errors which need immediate fixing if the team desire to make a comeback.

Had the bowlers been able to pick up 20 wickets, the batting collapses would not have been highlighted as much as it is being done now. All said and done, the playing XI for the second Test will dictate which of these two problems India have chosen to focus on and repair.