Brendon McCullum admits Ben Stokes got it wrong in crushing India defeat

England coach Brendon McCullum admits that Ben Stokes got it wrong with his decision to bowl first as India won by a huge 336 runs at Edgbaston. Stokes won the toss and backed England to chase the game, just as they'd successfully done in the first Test at Headingley to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

But this time his decision came back to haunt him, as India's batsman gave England a massive 608-run target in the fourth innings. Despite the efforts of wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith, who scored a total of 272 runs across the match, England couldn't bat out for a draw and were bowled out before tea on day five.

McCullum conceded that England had 'ran second' for all five days and strongly hinted that Stokes made a mistake in choosing to bowl first, as India captain Shubman Gill lead the visitors' charge with the bat. "I think, as the game unfolded, we probably looked back on that toss and said, 'Did we miss an opportunity there?' and it's probably fair," the England boss said.

"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 for five and we weren't able to capitalise on that position and when you win the toss and bowl you're hoping to, well, you're not anticipating the opposition's going to score 580 and then, from that point, we're behind the game.

"It was only a brilliant partnership from Jamie Smith and Harry Brook which gave us any balance in the game throughout the five days. That's something we've got to look at. We're not rigid with our plans. It's just we thought this pitch might get better to bat on as we went through the five days but as we saw it didn't."

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Stokes bemoaned the dry wicket in Birmingham, likening it to a 'subcontinent pitch', although he admitted that England had been 'out-skilled'. "To be honest, it probably ended up being more of a subcontinent pitch as it got deeper and deeper into the game," the home captain told Test Match Special post-match.

"There was certainly a little bit in it to start off with and I think we exposed that very, very well early on. Then just as it sort of got deeper and deeper, it just became a real tough slug for us.

"Obviously with the Indian attack and the conditions that they're used to, they were sort of used to and knew sort of how to expose those conditions just sort of a little bit better than us and that can happen sometimes. But yeah, it's nothing to be too disheartened about. We can take being out-skilled and we've certainly been out-skilled this week."

Despite the absence of star bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who India made the bold decision to rest before the third Test at Lord's which starts on Thursday, their bowling attack was also superior. Akash Deep finished on 10 wickets for the Test and McCullum acknowledged India's excellence.

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"I thought Akash Deep bowled outstandingly on that surface," he added. "Obviously growing up playing on those types of wickets, he hit his length and was able to utilise the surface where he could. He was exceptional.

"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.

"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."