Birmingham [UK], July 1 (ANI): The presence of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, the possibility of a two-spinner strategy, and some milestones will be in focus as Team India prepares to battle England in the second Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham.

Team India trails the series 0-1, having failed to defend the 371 runs set by them at Leeds despite scoring five centuries in the Test, including two by their swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant.

As Team India prepares to take to the field, they battle two key questions: To play Jasprit Bumrah after a work-heavy first Test, which saw him bowl almost 44 overs? To opt for a two-spinner strategy and play Kuldeep Yadav/Washington Sundar besides Ravindra Jadeja?

Speaking ahead of the match in the pre-match presser, Gill said about the team's 'Jassi Bhai', 'Bumrah is definitely available to play. We are trying to find a way to manage his workload. And yes, we are trying to find the right combination where we can take 20 wickets and score runs as well on these kinds of wickets. We just thought we are going to have a final look today (on the wicket) once we come to the ground and see what kind of combination that we want to go with tomorrow.'

Gill also said that the team was aware of the fact that Bumrah would be playing only three games and had decided on several combinations.

'So, you definitely do miss your best bowler if he is not playing. But I think we had that sorted before the series, who would be playing if he were not playing,' he added.

Speaking about the team's ideal combination, the captain said that while the team would like to have batting depth up to number seven or eight, having it up to number nine will affect the ability to take 20 wickets.

'So, it is about finding the right combination for that particular condition and that particular ground. And I think if we are able to go with four or premier bowlers with maybe a sixth bowling option and then have a batting till seven or eight, I think that would be a good combination for us,' Gill added.

The India Test Captain has not ruled out the possibility of playing a second spinner at Birmingham.

'It is not common to see two spinners in England. But the weather was not typical. It rained a lot and the sun was shining. In the last match also, if we had an extra spinner in the 4th inning, the game could have been better. There were some patches in the wicket which we could have exploited,' he added.

During the match, Gill said whenever Jadeja was bowling, the team felt that they were containing chances, and it was much easier for spinners to contain runs as compared to pacers, especially with the ball getting old and stopping swinging.

'The wickets were also good for batting. So, if the fast bowlers are not creating enough chances for the fast bowlers, then we feel that maybe a second spinner on these kinds of wickets will at least contain a run till the second new ball comes. So, looking at the last match, I felt that if the wicket is going to be similar to how it was in the last match, then a second spinner would be a bad option,' Gill said.

India would be tempted to play Kuldeep, who has just played one Test against England in England, going wicketless, back in the 2018-19 series, as the 'Bazball' brand of cricket has been left untested by it, having faced only six balls of wrist spin (by Steve Smith at Lord's in 2023) in 27 matches played at home under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.

He has a fine record against England, having played the home series last year, taking 21 wickets in six matches at an average of 22.28, with best figures of 5/72, his solitary five-wicket haul and an economy rate of 3.45.

Whatever tactics they use or line-up they field, it is of utmost importance that Team India is on point to break their winless run at the venue, having lost seven and drawn one out of eight matches at Edgbaston.

Coming to records and milestones, Pant could join a list of legends like Don Bradman, Rahul Dravid, and Brian Lara with another century at Edgbaston during the second Test against England.

Pant continued his red-hot Test form, slamming entertaining, counter-attacking and stroke-filled 134 and 118 during the first Leeds Test, which went in vain as India failed to defend the target of 371 runs and lost by five wickets.

The swashbuckling left-hander has a solid record in England, with 808 runs in 10 Tests and 19 innings at an average of 42.52, with four centuries and two fifties. His best score is 146.

The last time he was at Edgbaston back in July 2022, he smashed a counter-attacking 146 in 111 balls, with 19 fours and four sixes, and his partnership with Ravindra Jadeja powered India to 416 from a troublesome situation of 98/5. India lost the match as England successfully chased down the 378 set by them.

Now, if Pant scores another century at Edgbaston, he will join Bradman, Australia's Warren Bardsley, Dravid, Lara, Australia's Charles George Macartney, and New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell as the seventh visiting batter to score centuries in three successive Tests in England.

He will be only the second Indian after Dravid to repeat the feat after 23 years, slamming 115 at Nottingham, following it with 148 at Leeds and 217 at The Oval. The latest visiting batter who pulled off this feat was Kiwi all-rounder Mitchell, who smashed 108 at Lord's, 190 at Nottingham, and 109 at Leeds.

Also, Yashasvi Jaiswal, who slammed a brilliant century in the first Test, would be aiming to go past Rahul Dravid (40 innings), to become the fastest Indian to 2,000 Test runs, currently at 1,903 runs in 20 Tests and 38 innings at an average of 52.86, with five centuries and 10 fifties.

England batter Joe Root is also up for some upward movements in charts and milestones.

Having scored 115 runs in two Tests and three innings so far, Root has not set the cricketing world on fire exactly and would be aiming to get some big runs at Birmingham, considering how brilliant he has been at Edgbaston.

At the venue, Root is England's and overall all-time highest run-getter, with 920 runs in nine Tests and 16 innings at an average of 70.76. This includes three centuries and five fifties. His best score is 142*.

During his last three Tests at Birmingham, Root has made 424 runs in five innings at an average of 141.33, with two centuries and a fifty. His best score is 142*.

Another century will witness him surpass icons like Australia's Steve Smith and India's Rahul Dravid to become the fifth-highest century-scorer in Tests, with a total of 37, 15 shy of Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar's 51 tons in 200 Tests.

Also at the international level, another century will help him tie with South Africa's Hashim Amla (55 centuries) as the sixth-highest century-getter in all forms of cricket. At the top is Sachin Tendulkar with exactly 100 of them. 18 of Root's centuries have come in ODIs.

Root is currently the fifth-highest Test run-getter of all time, with 13,087 runs in 154 Tests and 281 innings at an average of 50.92, with 36 centuries and 66 fifties. His best score is 262. A batting exhibition at Edgbaston worth 202 runs could help him surpass Dravid (13,288 runs in 164 Tests at an average of 52.31, 36 centuries) to become the fourth-highest Test run-getter of all time.

Ahead of the match, England skipper Ben Stokes said, 'Obviously going 1-0 up, good start, but one of the important things for us heading into this week is starting at zero again. We know last week was a very tough fourth victory for us, obviously. Long five days, so just about, as I say, getting back to zero and going again and obviously focusing on trying to get the win here.'

England's skipper also expressed confidence in his team's ability to chase runs, drawing from past experiences over the last few years.'I think we're confident in our abilities to be able to go out and chase runs on the board when we have to bat in the fourth innings. That obviously comes from a lot of good experiences in the past over the last three, four years and being able to chase,' he said.

Despite having Jofra Archer back in the set-up after four long years, they have chosen to rest him, with skipper saying, 'I think it has been a long time since Joff has been in the Test environment. You know, he has been playing a lot of white-ball cricket for England over the last couple of years. So, to have him back with us here after, you know, such a long time is, you know, I think first and foremost great for him, great for the team and, yeah, I think it is very important for Joff to be around the group this week.'

'It has been a long time for him, and the last time he was in the Test dressing room, obviously that was under a different regime. So, you know, I felt it was important, even if he did not get selected this week, that he spends time around the group because, you know, I think hopefully that we will see him play a part in this series going forward. So, you know, that time spent with Joff, you know, with the other individuals in this group is, you know, very important for the rest of the series, you know, not just the performances out on the field as well,' the England captain added.

Squads:

England Squad: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jamie Smith(w), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Jofra Archer, Sam James Cook, Jamie Overton

India Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Akash Deep, Dhruv Jurel. (ANI)