“Who would want to be a bowler over there?” - Pat Cummins’ reaction to Edgbaston pitch after India’s 336-run win

Australia skipper Pat Cummins responded cheekily when asked about the pitch conditions at Edgbaston during the second Test match between India and England. Following Australia's 133-run victory against the West Indies in Grenada on a field that provided bowlers with significantly more options than the one used in the India-England match, he made this remark.

After losing the toss and being forced to bat first, India amassed an incredible 587 thanks to half-centuries from Ravindra Jadeja and Yashasvi Jaiswal, as well as a spectacular 269 from Shubman Gill. 

Harry Brook (158) and Jamie Smith (184) added 303 runs for the sixth wicket as England scored 407 in response. Akash Deep took four wickets, and Mohammed Siraj took six for seventy.

Gill maintained his excellent form in the second innings with a fluid 161, as India reached 427/6 declared thanks to fifties from KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Jadeja. Despite Jamie Smith's 88, England was bowled out for 271 when chasing an unlikely 608 score. 

The most impressive player was Akash Deep, who finished with match statistics of 10 for 187 after taking 6 for 99 in the innings.

Pat Cummins unimpressed with the Edgbaston Test pitch; takes a subtle dig at India’s win 

On the other hand, batters in the Caribbean are having difficulty on some scorching pitches. The West Indies were bowled out for 143 by the Australian pacers, who once again stole the show. This gave them an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match Test series.  

Only one team has scored more than 300 in the Australia-West Indies series, which is a sharp contrast to the England-India match. When Australia played the 2023 Ashes to begin the 2023–25 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, they had a close-up look at the flat English decks.

While acknowledging that he has not been able to keep up with the action in the English series, Cummins also stated that he would not like to bowl on such dull fields.

Speaking at the post-match presentation, Cummins said, “I wasn’t (watching India vs England), probably Marnus (Labuschagne) was, we’ll keep an eye on it. Who’d want to be a bowler over there? Well, I wouldn’t be surprised (over Edgbaston wicket being the third flattest wicket in English history). Looking at Test cricket his week over here compared to that, looks like two different sports. It looks like it is going to be a good series, 1-1 now.”

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