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Why the pressure is mounting on Shoaib Bashir, what England must do to recover, and why Rishabh Pant is box office: BUMBLE ON THE TEST

Why the pressure is mounting on Shoaib Bashir, what England must do to recover, and why Rishabh Pant is box office: BUMBLE ON THE TEST

Daily Mail​2 days ago
India took control of the second Test at Edgbaston with England requiring 536 runs to win with seven wickets remaining.
Rishabh Pant stole the show with a highly entertaining innings as India declared on 427-6.
There was another hundred for Shubman Gill, who is having a corker in his first Test series as captain - he has now scored 430, the most any India player has in a single Test.
England are going to need a great escape if they're to prevent India from drawing the series level.
So, why is the spotlight falling on Shoaib Bashir? How exactly can England claw their way back into this? And what is it about Pant's antics that make him so entertaining?
Mail Sport's David Lloyd - AKA Bumble - dives into all the hot topics after day four of the second Test.
A tough series for Bashir
The spotlight may fall back on Shoaib Bashir with series figures of eight wickets for 476 runs so far.
It was clear that India 's batters were very comfortable and content with him for long periods. In at number 11, he was clonked on the head too by Mohammed Siraj before he was bowled next ball.
So far, this has been a very tough series for the 21-year-old.
Shubman Gill's seamless takeover
People say world-class players are irreplaceable, but are they?
This is a real case of 'The King is dead, long live the King.' Shubman Gill has taken over seamlessly from one of the greatest modern batsmen in Virat Kohli and in style too.
Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant is always box office and has taken India to the next level after MS Dhoni. High praise indeed, for both.
Manchester karaoke mayhem
A triumphant return for Oasis in Cardiff prompted me to pop into The Millstone in the Northern Quarter in Manchester for some karaoke.
Paddy, an 87-year-old from Belfast, belted out Suspicious Minds and then a young buck with false tan and gelled up hair absolutely destroyed Don't Look Back in Anger.
Liam Gallagher would have given him a mouthful.
My advice to England
England need to try and get out of this game unscathed. For large parts, they have been comprehensively outplayed.
It's dangerous to play for a draw but I hope they don't play recklessly. With such a mammoth target, it's a question of not looking at the board, playing naturally and eliminating risk.
Lose and India will have all the momentum. And remember, visiting teams always lift their game at Lord's.
Rishabh Pant's wild antics
I see that Rishabh Pant has now taken to throwing his bat at the fielders.
I understand he's a keen golfer and it makes sense because golfers are told to grip the club very lightly. That lightly in fact that someone could pull the club easily out of your hands.
The only other one I can recall who threw the bat in such a manner was Mark Richardson, who played for New Zealand.
Fancy dress day
It was fancy dress day at Edgbaston with Little Bo-Peep with no sheep, the pig getting chased by the butchers and many more wonderful ideas.
But none of these compare to the pantomime horse that entered the field at Headingley in 1998 and was charged down by the rugby players, who were there as security.
The poor lad dislocated his shoulder and St John's Ambulance couldn't get him out of the costume!
A quiz question for you
Away from Edgbaston and there's plenty going on at Lancashire. The umpires weren't happy with Phil Salt's bat size and he had to get it replaced then Saqib Mahmood took Lancashire's first hat-trick in 21 years.
There's one player who played in that T20 on Friday and played in that match in 2004 when Dominic Cork took the hat-trick. Of course it's Jimmy Anderson.
Now here's another quiz question. Which team took six wickets in six balls this week?
Could India regret this?
I had a message from none other than Farokh Engineer questioning why Kuldeep Yadav is not playing. Well, I agree Mr Engineer.
On the last day, India may well be crying out for some wrist spin. This is when they need Yadav but in fairness, Siraj and Akash Deep have bowled really well on a surface that hasn't offered much.
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Sabbath, ELO and cricket: The weekend the world hit Birmingham
Sabbath, ELO and cricket: The weekend the world hit Birmingham

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  • BBC News

Sabbath, ELO and cricket: The weekend the world hit Birmingham

In case you missed it, Birmingham was in full glare of the spotlight at the weekend, with thousands of people from all over the world flocking to celebrate music, food and not since the euphoria of the Commonwealth Games in 2022 - when one Ozzy Osbourne brought proceedings to an end - the buzz was palpable in the city was largely thronged by those dressed all in black, in direct contrast to the England and India cricketers dressed in their whites at Ecuador to the US, Bolivia to Canada they came, and it was clear they were in the city for one thing - to say farewell to Ozzy and Black Sabbath, as they took to the stage at Villa Park, bringing down the curtain on 55 years of hellraising. But, the city was not just saying goodbye to one rock luminary - over at the Utilita Arena in the city centre, another music legend was also bidding Jeff Lynne was forced to appear without his trademark guitar, having broken his left hand, telling the crowd he had been involved in a taxi crash in London. "I've had a guitar in my hand all my life but not tonight. But nothing would keep me away from you," he told the sell out audience. Lynne has been in business for about as long as Sabbath, but these shows have been billed as a "final goodbye" from his band, you, he couldn't muster the kind of support acts Ozzy enjoyed before he took to his thrown in the centre of the stage, in front of 40,000 dedicated fans, many having parted with huge amounts of money to be line-up included the likes of Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Slash of Guns N' Roses, and even a cameo appearance (albeit on video) by Dolly signature long black hair, thick black eye makeup and wild-eyed facial expressions were all in place - still ably living up to his Prince of Darkness black leather throne he sat on throughout was complete with skulls and a bat with jewels for eyes. And although he has Parkinson's, Ozzy kept up the energy - clapping and waving his arms."You have no idea how I feel," he said after singing Suicide Solution, from his 1980 debut album Blizzard of Ozz. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart."At the end of his five-song set, confetti blasted into the air, and the crowd burst into chants of: "Ozzy, Ozzy".As he left the stage, a picture of Diogo Jota appeared on the big screen, a tribute to the Portuguese-born Liverpool footballer, who died in a car crash, along with his brother, last Tuesday. It was then time for the main event - the original line-up of Black Sabbath were playing together for the first time in 20 their set began ominously with red lights and air raid sirens bellowing out around Villa Park. They then launched into War Pigs, followed by N.I.B, Iron Man and finally, bandmates were having the time of their lives - during Paranoid Ozzy told the crowd to "go crazy", screaming "louder", and the crowd gladly the last chords rang out, a fireworks and a huge confetti cannon exploded into the night sky."It's the last song ever. Your support has enabled us to live an amazing lifestyle... thank you from the bottom of our hearts," said Ozzy. Support acts also included Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Halestorm, Anthrax and Alice in - real name Saul Hudson - took to the stage as was raised in Stoke-on-Trent, but made his name years later as guitarist for Guns N' Roses. The crowd erupted for Metallica."Birming-ham!", shouted James Hetfield."Without Sabbath there would be no Metallica. Thank you for giving us a purpose in life," he said. Of course - the event would not have been what it was, without those fans. Stefano di Fiore, 27, from near Rome, Italy was the first person in the arrived on Tuesday and had been outside the stadium since Wednesday afternoon."It's been rainy and cold, but I did it for Ozzy," he said."This will be the best concert of my entire life." In sport, Edgbaston hosted the Men's International Test Match began after day three with India leading by 244 runs with nine wickets in the day's action left England facing defeat - they lost three top-order wickets before the close, as India surged towards victory in the second Test after their captain Shubman Gill's run-fest continued. And, if all that was not enough, taste buds were tingling and mouths were watering at Colmore Food Festival, which was held in Victoria Square, providing sustenance to all those in the city was the 12th year of the event, organised by Colmore Woodhouse, from the BID, said it was an annual celebration of all the city's best food and her favourite foodie finds were crispy bao buns, hot curries and ice cream of every and drink blogger Bite Your Brum, aka Laura McEwan, told Radio WM that this year's festival had been "bigger and better than ever" - to ensure all those black-clad Sabbath fans would not be going hungry. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.

England crash to India defeat with Jamie Smith shining brightest in bid for draw
England crash to India defeat with Jamie Smith shining brightest in bid for draw

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England crash to India defeat with Jamie Smith shining brightest in bid for draw

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England crash to India defeat with Jamie Smith shining brightest in bid for draw
England crash to India defeat with Jamie Smith shining brightest in bid for draw

South Wales Guardian

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England crash to India defeat with Jamie Smith shining brightest in bid for draw

For the first time in three years of the 'Bazball' era England accepted that a stalemate was the best they could hope for, attempting to frustrate the tourists on the final day rather than hunt an astronomical target of 608. But a team who have made their name as thrill-seeking fourth-innings chasers were not built to produce a day-long rearguard and were bowled out for 271 with 27 overs still in front of them. Jamie Smith was their best performer in front of a heavily pro-India crowd, following up a career-best 184 not out in the first innings with 88 in the second, but even he was unable to knuckle down for the long haul. He was caught on the boundary attempting to pull a third consecutive six, going down with a flourish rather than a fight. England's fate had been mostly sealed in the first session, Ollie Pope and Harry Brook both dismissed in the first half-hour to leave the hosts 83 for five and Ben Stokes lbw to the last ball before lunch. Akash Deep took the plaudits with six for 99 to complete a 10-wicket match and India will be licking their lips at the prospect of pairing him with Jasprit Bumrah at Lord's in next week's third Test. Heavy morning showers pushed the start back by an hour and 40 minutes, though rejigged session times meant only 10 of the scheduled 90 overs were lost. That nudged England's required run-rate up to 6.7 an over, effectively removing whatever sliver of optimism they had about embarking on a world record run chase. Instead, the game was all about India's hunt for wickets. It did not take long for them to open their account, danger man Deep taking just seven balls. Pope had watched his first over from the non-striker's end but was removed at the first time of asking, failing to smother the bounce as he deflected it back into his stumps off his arm. He threw his head back in frustration, gone for 24 to follow his golden duck on day two. Brook enjoyed considerably better fortunes in the first innings, making 158, but he was sent on his way in Deep's next over as the pitch began to offer some serious assistance. Targeting a sizeable crack just short of a good length, the seamer hit the jackpot as the ball jagged back dramatically and pinned a wrongfooted Brook on the inside of the knee. DRS upheld the umpire's lbw decision as Brook limped away beaten and bruised. Deep could easily have taken a third in a consistently menacing opening spell, Stokes just escaping a drag-on and Smith's stumps somehow surviving two near misses in four balls. The pair rallied for a workmanlike partnership worth 70, but India reaped the rewards of hustling one extra over before lunch. Ravindra Jadeja looked to be bowling the last over but dashed through it so quickly there was time for another. Washington Sundar used it to decisive effect, beat Stokes' flat-bat defence and striking him clean in front for 33. Batting looked increasingly treacherous as India used spin at both ends at the start of the afternoon session but attacking fields allowed Smith to score briskly on his way to another half-century. Victory for India at Edgbaston. We go to Lord's 1-1 in the series 🤝 — England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 6, 2025 He took 17 off a single over from Sundar, including two hearty blows for six and a guided edge for four, to hasten the return of the quick men. The switch proved costly for Chris Woakes, who was tempted into pulling Prasidh Krishna and skied a top-edge up in the air. India prodded Smith's ego by asking Deep to bowl bouncers at him and, while the first two sailed into the stands, he shovelled the third into Sundar's hands. Number 10 Josh Tongue was expertly caught by Mohammed Siraj and Brydon Carse thrashed 38 before skying Deep to India captain Shubman Gill, whose magnificent match haul of 430 runs paved the way for his side.

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