India is 84 runs away from creating history at Edgbaston, Birmingham whereas England is five wickets away from putting the nip in the bud. Meanwhile, India has toured 17 times to England. However, it is seldom that India has got off to good start on England tour.
In fact, out of this 17 times, the visitors have gone on to win the first Test match of the series only on one occasion. Thus, India hasn’t been good starters on the English soil. Interestingly, the solitary win in the opening Test match came under the leadership of World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev in 1986.
Virat Kohli is going to hold the key.
Consequently, India has lost their first 13 matches and have managed to end three in a stalemate while playing in England. Furthermore, India hasn’t won a single match while playing at Edgbaston, Birmingham. They have played six matches at the venue and have gone on to lose five while they have managed to draw one.
Therefore, India will like to the turn the tables and improve their poor record in England. In fact, they are 84 runs away from the historic win. Thus, they are standing at a door of creating history. However, it should be noted that England will make every possible move to make these 84 runs as difficult as possible.
Meanwhile, there is no doubt that Virat Kohli is going to hold the key. The Indian skipper has scored almost 200 runs in the game. In fact, England will know that one thing that separates them from the win, is Virat Kohli. Thus, the hosts must look to dismiss him as soon as possible.
Kohli has been a lone warrior and hasn’t put a foot wrong thus far in the Test match. However, he will hope that Dinesh Karthik and other following batsmen can provide the support to him.