The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy is still well balanced after India's comprehensive 336-run victory over England in the second Test at Edgbaston.
Yet, while being a witness to one of India's most comprehensive overseas victories, former England captain Michael Vaughan remains adamant that England will win the series 3-1.
Following a loss in the first Test at Headingley, where India were five wickets short, Shubman Gill's side returned with a bang. Showing sheer grit and strategic acumen, India dominated the second Test.
Gill emphasized his captaincy acumen with twin centuries from the batting unit, as searing bowling attacks by Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj were game-turning on a track that offered little to the bowlers.
But Vaughan, not swayed by India's decisive comeback, reasserted his fearless series prediction. The former England skipper maintains that Ben Stokes' team can still win the series, sticking to his 3-1 win prediction for the home team.
Despite India's impressive show, Vaughan argues that the visitors will not record another victory in the series. He is confident that England will recover and win two of the next three Tests to take the trophy.
Expressing his views on X (formerly Twitter), Vaughan posted:
"India has been too good this week … Outstanding performance … My prediction is still alive … 3-1 England … #ENGvsIND"
While he complimented India's brilliance at Edgbaston, Vaughan was not reluctant to criticize England's performance. He noted that the team defaulted to old mistakes following their disciplined performance at Headingley, where their aggressive style of play — which has come to be popularly referred to as "Bazball" — appeared more tactical and polished.
In an article for The Telegraph, Vaughan said:
This group has brought us such happiness the past three years, and they can do great things in the next six months. After Headingley, they seemed to have gotten better, and we christened it Bazball with brains.
He implied that England might have overlooked the contribution of luck in their first Test victory, pointing at India's substandard fielding as one of the reasons. In the second Test, Vaughan said, India outclassed the hosts in nearly all departments.
They were back to their old bad ways this week. If we are being realistic, England has taken a pounding this week. There was only four hours on the third day when Harry Brook and Jamie Smith batted so finely, other than that they have been comprehensively outplayed by India," he wrote.
Vaughan was concerned about England's tactical rigidity, saying that the victory in Headingley may have been flattering. According to him, the hosts attempted to duplicate their strategy without modification, which was disastrous against a revitalized Indian team.
He summed up with a grim warning: It was a performance that concerned me a lot. I am afraid they took the first match as absolute proof of how to play Test cricket. They were very skilled in winning that match, but a lot of luck was involved too. They arrived here and assumed they must do everything the same way, and it has been a backfire.
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