Gill hints at playing two spinners ahead of Edgbaston Test

After being ahead of England in most of the sessions in the first Test match, India failed to capitalise on the advantage on the final day and close out a win, with the hosts securing a five-wicket victory on the back of Ben Duckett's 149.

Shubman Gill, India's young Test captain, believes an extra spinner in Leeds could have helped his side, and isn't ruling out going with that option ahead for the second Test in Birmingham, starting Wednesday, 2 July.

"In England, generally teams don't play with two spinners, but the weather isn't typical and there is very less rain, a lot of heat," he said in the pre-match press conference. "So playing an extra spinner won't be a bad option.

"Even in the previous game, I felt having another spinner could've made the difference since Jaddu bhai (Ravindra Jadeja) was successful in asking questions to the batters, and containing runs as well.

"On batting-friendly conditions wherein the ball isn't swinging much after 30-40 overs, a spinner can stop the runflow if not pick wickets till the second new ball is taken, which could help the pacers as well.

"These are difficult calls to take because, if we are going in with extra spinner, we'd need to think about how to manage the second spinner on day one if we are bowling on the first day."

Speaking on the combination for the second Test match, Gill said he would want one that strikes a balance between bat and ball.

"Ideally we would want to have batting depth till seven or eight, it is also important to find the right combination for the particular ground and that particular match," he said.

"It is important to be consistent against England's batting lineup and bowl in one area, maybe try and make them play in front of the wicket as much as possible."

India have been maintaining the suspense over their main pacer Jasprit Bumrah's selection for the second Test and Gill believes that even if Bumrah sits out of the match, India have the firepower to compete well.

"At the end of the day, these are the best players in India, the squad is our best squad with 15-16 best players," Gill said.

"It is difficult to not have your best bowler but not impossible (to win). There are other bowlers too who are good, that is why they are playing for the country.

"We had combinations ready because we knew about him playing three out of five Tests before the series started.

"Bumrah bhai is definitely available for selection but we will decide based on managing his workload in the upcoming Test matches and pitch conditions as well. There might be a scenario where the Test can end in three days or can get washed out as well, we are looking at all of that."

On his learnings as a Test captain, Gill felt he could've batted slightly better in the first match and spent more time in the middle with Rishabh Pant.

"We played well in maximum moments, but it is important to not gift the game away completely even if we have a poor session in the middle," Gill said. "I felt we did that in the last match.

"I could've scored more runs, our lower order couldn't contribute, our bowling was consistent but we couldn't pick wickets, we dropped catches – a lot of factors, but there were a lot for us as well in the match.

"We were very close in the (first) game, we could have batted England out or played till the time when only a draw or an Indian win was possible, but we will try to look at the positives.

"As a captain, we go into Test match to win, not for a draw or to experiment with the playing combination. We want to play the best lineup for the situation and win the Test and the series."