"They got lucky because Shubman Gill wanted to bowl first" - Ex-England captain's stunning claim after day 2 of ENG vs IND 2025 2nd Test

Former England captain Michael Vaughan made a stunning claim after Team India and Shubman Gill's tremendous outing on Day 2 of the second Test at Edgbaston. With Gill claiming at the toss that he would have bowled first, the 50-year-old stated that the tourists got lucky as Ben Stokes inserted them in.

The Indian skipper was outstanding at Edgbaston, peeling off a marathon 269 on Thursday to keep England on the field for a staggering 151 overs. With the bowling first tactic working for the hosts in the opening Test, they did the same in Birmingham. However, India were far more impressive with the bat on this occasion and amassed 587.

Vaughan said on the BBC Test Match Special that England needed to bat first in the conditions and grind the opposition down. He said:

"The way that England bowled today was a slight concern. There were a few things I saw in the field which made me think this looks a bit ominous going forward. Sometimes you bat first to grind the opposition into the dirt and that's what England looked like. They played three tired shots. It couldn't have gone any better for India. They got lucky because Shubman Gill wanted to bowl first and I don't know why you would even consider that."

The visiting captain broke Mohammad Azharuddin's record for the highest individual score by an Indian skipper in England. Additionally, he surpassed Sunil Gavaskar's tally of 221 for the highest score by any Indian player on English soil.

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"I worked on a few things before the series as well" - Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill. (Image Credits: Getty)

Speaking to Sky Sports after the day's play, the Punjab-born cricketer stated that India were targeting a score of 400 to keep themselves in the game. He said:

"I worked on a few things before the series as well, that I thought might be important for me going into Test cricket. Looking at the results, they are working for me. Fielding was definitely one of those things we spoke about as a team, and it's great to see that come off so far. This game was all about confidence. We spoke about if we scored 400 again, batting first or batting second, we would be right in the game."

The tourists left England in a tricky 77/3, with Akash Deep getting a couple of wickets among those.