I agree to that fact that Bairstow and England have really turned around things but I think New Zealand are equally poor since their win against India in WTC Final. They had lost that Wankhede game by an enormous margin followed by a loss against Bangladesh at home and that drawn series against South Africa too.
Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell apart, the New Zealand batting was extremely poor!
I think some 14 years ago nobody would've said this but I think India have more of a chance to dismiss England with this batting approach considering our pacers are a touch quicker than the ones Kiwis played in this series. So those shots played with hard hands might result in more number of edges.
India though have their own set of worries:-
- KL Rahul who scored more runs for India on our last tour is injured.
- Rohit Sharma who played most deliveries too is tested Covid positive.
- Kohli is short on some runs big time!
The only thing I am positive about is our pacers. If our lower order puts some runs then I would be pretty hopeful regarding our chances.
Also been a while since India played one-off Test in England. Probably they played one and lost at Lord's back in 2004/05?
This Indian side usually does well when their backs are against the wall. The only factor that is against them now is Edgbaston being England's happy hunting ground (England just loss 1 game here since 2009).