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

BIRMINGHAM, England (Reuters) -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 Gill's 269, put 587 runs on the board and followed up with 427 in the second innings before they declared.

In response, Ben Stokes's 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 weren't 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 it's probably fair. We didn't expect that the wicket would play quite as it did and hence we probably got it slightly wrong.

"But we did have them 200-5 and we weren't able to capitalise on that position. When you win the toss and bowl, you're not anticipating the opposition's going to score 580 and then from that point we're behind the game."

England had sensed an opportunity to go 2-0 up in the series when India rested Jasprit Bumrah, the world's number one-ranked test bowler, to keep him fit for the third test at Lord's starting on Thursday.

Akash Deep stepped up, however, to take 10 wickets in the match, including six in the second innings as he tore through the top order and picked up the crucial wicket of in-form Jamie Smith for 88.

"I thought Akash Deep bowled outstandingly on that surface... He hit his length and was able to utilise the surface where he could. He was exceptional," McCullum said.

"Bumrah will more than likely come back in for the next one so we've just got to make sure we're well planned and well prepared and ready for the next challenge.

"It will be quite different I imagine to this surface and that's probably a good thing for us."

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)