Recent heartbreak and the weight of depressing history make for a double whammy for India, desperate to not fall further behind when the second of five Tests gets underway on Wednesday. As if their five-wicket defeat at Headingley last week, despite calling the shots for large pockets of first match, wasn’t bad enough, India have a dismal record at Edgbaston — seven defeats and a draw in eight tilts.

It’s against this not-so-encouraging backdrop that Shubman Gill must rouse his troops into battle all over again. This time, potentially without the ace in his pack, the peerless Jasprit Bumrah.

Batting-friendly pitch 

India have already used up one of the three trump cards available this series — their premier bowler has been pencilled in to play only three Tests — with little to show for it. Despite five centuries across two innings and a first-innings five-wicket haul for Bumrah, they were well beaten by an intrepid, adventurous England side that has reined in its bravado and are therefore even more dangerous for it. Now, they must find ways and means to keep Ben Stokes’s men at bay on a surface that appears perfectly suited to their uninhibited approach to batting.