England v India Second Test Tips: Batting blitzkrieg in Birmingham

• India and punters wait on Bumrah news

• Edgbaston track and history suggests runs

• Pitch not expected to detriorate so draw could shorten

• Read the best second Test player tips HERE

• Betfair Predicts is your essential guide to England v India this summer

England v India
Wednesday 2 July, 11.00
TV: Live on Sky Sports

England v India second Test team news

England have already named their XI for Edgbaston. And it is unchanged as they have resisted the temptation to bring back (rush back?) Jofra Archer. It is the fair decision as rarely should a team throw out a winning combination, particularly one that overturned in-play odds of 17/118.00 to boot.

Archer is a tantalising option but surely he needs to prove his fitness more than one red-ball outing for Sussex. There is now an absence of Championshoip fixtures but there's nowt wrong with putting his body under pressure playing Frida-Saturday-Wednesday in the Blast before giving serious consideration to a Lord's return.

Joe Root has a sensational record at Edgbaston with 970 runs in nine innings. Ben Stokes finds it a struggle, averaging 27. Chris Woakes should feel right at home, of course, as a Warwickshire player.

England XI: Crawley, Duckett, Pope, Root, Brook, Stokes, Smith, Woakes, Carse, Tongue, Bashir

India are expected to make their decision on Jasprit Bumrah's fitness public at the last minute. Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has said he is available for selection. There was also a story saying bowling coach Morne Morkel had confirmed he would play. One suspects India know exactly what they are doing.

Well, they should. The will-he, won't-he saga just becomes a distraction. Not least for those who are in the wings ready to take his place. There are curious stats which show that India's win rate and bowling average are better without Bumrah in the XI, proving that the hard numbers do tell fibs.

But if Bumrah is fit, he surely has to play. They could be 2-0 down if they leave him for game three at Lord's. There may be changes regardless. Kuldeep Yadav could replace Shadul Thakur who had a shocker in Leeds. India desperately need someone to hold an end to rotate their pace bowlers and take the pressure off Bumrah. 

Rishabh Pant and Ravi Jadeja both hit first-innings centuries on this ground in defeat in 2022, when England chased 378 in the fourth. That could be a key pointer.

Possible India XI: Rahul, Jaiswal, Sai, Gill, Nair, Pant, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Bumrah, Siraj, Prasidh

Get live Test series predictions on Betfair Predicts 

England v India second Test pitch report

There is a good chunk of evidence that batters are going to dominate at Edgbaston from Wednesday. One slice is how the bowlers struggled at Headingley when there was no assistance from the overheads, bar Bumrah, of course.

In Birmingham, overcast conditions are certainly helpful. But it is unlikely to be as extreme as Leeds where everything is about what happens overhead. The forecast is good for the first three days with high temperatures. There might be some rain around on the weekend. 

Heat and sun have baked the surface and it could be very flat indeed. In Championship cricket this season in five matches there have been five scores of 450 or more in ten first- and second-innings. 

In the last four Tests the pitch has got better and better to bat on. The first-innings runs per wicket average is 36 and by the fourth it is 60. Without a complete change in the overheads we could see a run glut even from ball one. The last four first-innings scores read: 303-416-393-282. We might expect England's innings runs line to be around the 370.5 mark on a settled market but it will jump if Bumrah is out. 

We also note England for over 20.5 runs after five overs at 10/111.91. If it's a good deck they might not waste time in trying to put down a marker. Sportsbook offer 6/17.00 that both teams have 50-run opening partnerships. 

England v India second Test match prediction

If India can't win posting 471 in the first-innings, being bang in charge in the third at 333 for four and even then setting 371 with the best pacer in the world in their XI, when can they win? The 3.7511/4 doesn't scream value before Bumrah has been confirmed.

We always said they would improve for the run and they will hope that their catching is vastly improved and at least one other pacer steps up to assist Bumrah. It is fair to reckon, however, that they could well be bigger in-play.

The same goes for England at that 1.758/11 mark. As stated previously they are a great option at odds-against when the match is underway and they are a team which rarely makes one feel that they are totally out of it. The importance of taking - and waiting - for better odds in-play has been discussed ad nauseum down the years with the Cricket...Only Betttor crew.

It is the draw price, however, which is of interest here surprisingly. Had India not lost 13 wickets for 72, we could have had a stalemate with a monster target being out of reach of even England's fast scorers on the last day. With runs expected it would be no surprise to see the 6.205/1 come in sharply with a first dig still in progress on day three.

Now read the best cricket Tips here!