A to Z of Edgbaston

Alistair Reeling from losses in the first two Tests India were at the receiving end of a 294 from future England captain Alastair Cook in the third Test at Edgbaston in 2011Birmingham The city was home to numerous English greats but also to overseas stars like Rohan Kanhai Deryck Murray and Alvin Kallicharran all of whom played for Warwickshire in the 1970sChetan After starring with the ball for India in the opening Test at Lordrsquos in the 1986 series Chetan Sharma missed the second Test at Leeds through injury for India to summon Madan Lal from league cricket Chetan came roaring back for the drawn third Test at Edgbaston where he claimed 10 wicketsDavid Elegant lefthander David Gower loved doing things in style He did exactly that through his imperious double hundred when the 1979 series opened at EdgbastonEngland This cricketing giant has an overwhelming Test record against India at Edgbaston ndash seven wins in eight Tests India has some catching up to do hereFour Thatrsquos how many specialist spinners the MAK Pataudiled Indian team fielded in the 1967 Edgbaston Test It was the only time the famous spin quartet of Bedi Chandra Venkat and Prasanna figured together in a playing XIGavaskar Imagine getting out in the first ball of a Test match and walking off without the umpire declaring you out only for the debutant umpire to express his displeasure at being denied from signalling out Thatrsquos what Sunil Gavaskar did and witnessed Bill Alleyrsquos disappointmentHendrick Englandrsquos first change bowler enjoyed success in the 1974 and 1979 Tests versus India which went the hostsrsquo way In 1974 he claimed seven in the match which included GR Vishwanathrsquos wicket on both innings while in 1979 he claimed six Indian wicketsIan From 1823 in the second innings of the 1979 Test India collapsed to 253 all out A certain Ian Botham struck with the ball and sent back key batsmen Gaekwad Vishwanath Mohinder and Kapil Dev to ensure an England winJadeja Allrounder Ravindra Jadeja joined Rishabh Pant as the second centurymaker in Indiarsquos first innings here during the 2022 TestKapil He would have made history by becoming the first India captain to lead his team to a 30 whitewash over England But Kapil Dev saw the hosts avoiding their third defeat on the bounce after Lordrsquos and LeedsLloyd We enjoy David lsquoBumblersquo Lloydrsquos expert comments But did you know that he was involved in two Test victories over India at Edgbaston As a double centurion in 1974 and as coach of England in 1996Mike Englandrsquos captain Mike Denness in the 1974 Test against India experienced a 30 victory finish to the series here but his next Test at Edgbaston vs Australia in 1975 was a loss that cost him his captaincyNaik Departed India opener Sudhir Naikrsquos highest Test score of 77 was achieved on his Test debut in the 1974 game here He slugged it out for 210 minutes before perishing to Tony Greig through a dubious LBW decisionOld England pacer Chris Old will not forget the way he dismissed Ashok Mankad at Edgbaston in 1974 The Indian batsmenrsquos cap landed on his leg and middle stumpsPatel Sachin Tendulkar brought up his hundred with a six against Mumbaiborn debutant leftarm spinner Min Patel in 1996Qasim The Pakistani tailenderrsquos mouth injury via a Bob Willis bouncer in the 1978 Test underlined the need for batsmen to wear helmetsRavichandran Asked to open the bowling for the first time on English soil Ravichandran Ashwin unsettled Englandrsquos toporder with three wickets here in 2018 England eventually wonSmith Among overseas batsmen South Africarsquos Graeme Smith is the highest individual scorer at Edgbaston mdash 277 in 2003Tendulkar Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkarrsquos second inningsrsquo 122 in 1996 forced commentator Richie Benaud to tell his viewers that they wonrsquot see a better hundred in the summer He was quick to add that a better century wouldnrsquot be seen next year eitherUnstoppable Englandrsquos batting machine was just this in the 1974 Test The hosts lost just two wickets in the TestVirender India opener Virender Sehwag ended up with a pair of spectacles in the 2011 Test through his two firstball ducksWarwickshire The county which once had the great Brian Lara playing for them His best An unbeaten 501 against Durham in 1994Xfactor England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith could well be the Xfactor in this Test after his two 40plus innings at LeedsYuvraj The dashing cricketer found himself out of the reckoning for the 2011 Test due to a fracture on his left index finger in theprevious TestZaheer Not Indiarsquos Zaheer Khan but Pakistanrsquos Zaheer Abbas who smashed 274 in his first Test on English soil here in 1971middayrsquos Deputy Editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stanceHe tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper