England second-best to India, got toss wrong, says McCullum

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Cricket - Second Test - England v India - Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham, Britain - July 6, 2025 England head coach Brendon McCullum shakes hands with Indias Shubman Gill after the match Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs

REUTERS

BIRMINGHAM, England - England were second-best in all departments in a heavy test loss to India at Edgbaston after they misread the pitch and made the wrong decision at the toss, coach Brendon McCullum said after his team lost by 336 runs on Sunday.

England opted to bowl first but the decision backfired as India, led by skipper Shubman Gills 269, put 587 runs on the board and followed up with 427 in the second innings before they declared.

In response, Ben Stokess side were reduced to 84-5 in the first innings and 83-5 in the second, with the hosts always playing catch-up and leaving the middle order with too much work to do on a track good for batting on the first four days.

We ran second for five days, I thought India played exceptionally well. Shubman Gill was at an elite level and played brilliantly on this pitch. We werent quite able to play how we wanted to on it and they thoroughly deserved to win, McCullum told the BBC.

As the game unfolded, we probably looked back on that toss and said did we miss an opportunity there and its probably fair. We didnt expect that the wicket would play quite as