India vs England: Gautam Gambhir's 'fixation on all-rounders' labelled 'baffling' by ex-Australian player

India head coach Gautam Gambhir (AP Photo)

India has T20 cricket written all over their playing XI for the second Test match against England at Edgbaston in Birmingham. India fielded five designated batsmen, three specialist bowlers, while the other three are all-rounders.

Gautam Gambhir, the head coach of India, has set the standard for having six bowling options and batsmen up to No. 8. He has found success with it in white-ball cricket, particularly in the T20 format. Gambhir's love for all-rounders has paid off in both international arena and the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, maintaining a similar tactic has not provided desirable results in Tests.

The approach failed against New Zealand at home and the story repeated in Australia. England will be added to that list if India fail to achieve the intended outcome at Edgbaston.

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India hit the panic button after selecting a predictable starting lineup for the series opener in Leeds, which they lost by five wickets despite controlling the game for a longer amount of time. Three changes were made. Naturally, Jasprit Bumrah's workload management was the reason behind one. The 'fixation' that Gambhir has on all-rounders is responsible for the other two.

Former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody called India's selection "baffling", before adding that the "fixation on all-rounders has never worked" in this format of the sport.

"India’s selection for this Test is baffling. No Bumrah is one thing, but to only have 5 specialist batsmen is a gamble. The fixation on all-rounders who are there to offer depth with bat and ball has never worked. Specialists are always going to offer more over a Test," Moody wrote on X.

India’s selection for this test is baffling. No Bumrah is one thing, but to only have 5 specialist batsmen is a gamble.
The fixation on all-rounders who are there to offer depth with bat and ball has never worked. Specialists are always going to offer more over a test. #ENGvIND

— Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) July 2, 2025

India made another unexpected move when they brought in seam-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy in place of Shardul Thakur and replaced Jasprit Bumrah with Akash Deep. Sai Sudharsan, who batted at number three on his Test debut at Headingley, was dropped to make room for Washington Sundar.

Sudharsan was caught down the leg side for a duck in the first innings but played a decent hand in the second. Dropping a young player after just one Test, according to ex-cricketer Subramanium Badrinath, was a tough decision. "Sai scored a crucial 30 and was involved in an important partnership in the second innings. Dropping a youngster high on confidence doesn’t feel right," Badrinath wrote on X.

Sai scored a crucial 30 and was involved in an important partnership in the second innings. dropping an youngster high on confidence doesn’t feel right #ENGvIND

— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath) July 2, 2025

Sundar's selection was peculiar in a number of ways. The chorus to include Kuldeep Yadav as the lead spinner grew after India failed to stop England from chasing 371 in the fourth innings at Headingley. Also since Bazball cricket began Edgbaston has generated arguably the flattest tracks in England, allowing spinners to play a crucial role towards the end of a five-day contest.

However, India went ahead with Sundar as their backup spin bowling option instead of selecting Kuldeep. Batting depth was the reason provided by skipper Shubman Gill at toss.