The transition era for Team India has gotten off to a bad start as the young side, led by Shubman Gill, faced a five-wicket defeat in the first Test against England in Headingley, Leeds.
Ben Stokes and co climbed a mountain as the hosts chased down 371 in the final innings to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. After Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma retired, all the chatter was about how the batting lineup would fare without their two most senior pros. However, it is safe to say that more than RoKo, India possibly missed the services of a quality frontline spinner like Ravichandran Ashwin on the final day, as Ravindra Jadeja was unable to get much assistance from the pitch.
Jadeja’s below-par show with the ball, mixed with the inconsistent pace attack, was the major reason behind England chasing down 371 in the final innings. The left-arm spinner eventually came into his own in the final session of the Test, but by that time, the horse had already bolted. This is also the first instance that a team with five centurions ended up losing the Test.
Jasprit Bumrah (fifer in the first innings), the lone warrior in the first innings, had a rare off day at the office, and the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna failed to step up. Their inconsistency and lack of ability to take wickets at regular intervals now pose a serious challenge in front of the team management, as it is already known that Bumrah would not be playing all five Tests.
There is a good chance Bumrah will just play two more Tests in this series. The management has Arshdeep Singh, Akash Deep, and Harshit Rana sitting on the bench, but can a bowling attack minus Bumrah take 20 wickets against England?
For the majority of the contest on Day 5, England were far ahead as the opening batters Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett put on 188 runs for the opening wicket, giving a headstart in the steep chase. There were fears of whether India would face a ten-wicket hiding when Crawley and Duckett were going strong.
However, just like the past four days, the pendulum swung once again as India staged a comeback in the second session of the final day. It all started with Prasidh Krishna dismissing Crawley (65) and Ollie Pope (0) in quick succession. However, Duckett was still going strong and India were still staring down the barrel.
Shardul Thakur, who bowled just six overs in the first innings, then stepped up as he once again lived up to the moniker of ‘Lord’ by dismissing Duckett (149) and Harry Brook (0) on consecutive balls. All of a sudden, the pressure was on England, and both results were possible.
Rain once again played spoilsport on the final day. Players had to go off in the second session, and the umpires decided to call for early Tea. The task was simple for both teams: India needed to get six wickets, while England needed to score 102 more runs to gain a 1-0 lead.
Ben Stokes and Joe Root started the final session of the Test on a positive note as the duo kept chipping away. However, against the run of play, Ben Stokes lost his wicket as he went for a reverse sweep off the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja. The England captain was eventually dismissed for 33 off 51 balls.
However, Joe Root showed that he is a big-match player in the third and final session. He took England over the line with five wickets in hand. Root and Jamie Smith remained unbeaten on 53 and 44 respectively.
India’s lower-order collapse
While all the chatter will be about India’s bowling attack and how they let Crawley and Duckett score at free will in the final innings, one cannot forget India’s two lower-order collapses.
In the first innings, India were reigning supreme at 430/3 as the side threatened to run away with the game by posting 550-600 runs on the board. However, just like several occasions in the past, India’s lower-order fell like a pack of cards and the side lost their final seven wickets for 41 runs.
Once again in the second innings, India were poised nicely at 333/4 with a lead of 339 runs. England’s shoulders were down as the hosts looked set to chase a target of more than 450 runs. However, just like the first innings, India’s tail seemed to be non-existent, and the final six wickets fell for just 31 runs, setting England a target of 471 runs.
The Indian fielding also left much to be desired as India dropped a total of seven catches in the entire contest. Out of these seven, four were put down by Yashasvi Jaiswal. In the second innings, Jaiswal put down Duckett off Mohammed Siraj’s bowling, and the entire chain of events just put his entire Test in context as a fielder.
Jaiswal dropped three chances in the first innings while fielding in the slips. He was then positioned in the deep for the second innings, but he also dropped a sitter there.
Talking about India’s batting, KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant all had a good outing. Jaiswal, Gill and Pant scored centuries in the first innings, putting the fears of what ‘without Rohit and Virat’ away.
Pant carried on from where he left off in the first innings as he smashed another century in the second innings, becoming just the second wicketkeeper-batter in the history of the game to score twin centuries in a Test. The southpaw was ably supported by KL Rahul, who scored his first Test ton in almost 18 months.
However, the hard work done by the top order in both innings was undone by the non-existent performance by the lower-middle order. Sai Sudharsan, who was making his debut, managed just 30 runs in the contest. He was dismissed for a duck in the first innings. On both occasions in the Test, Sai Sudharsan fell to a leg-side trap by England captain Ben Stokes.
Speaking of Karun Nair, who was returning to the Test playing XI after eight years, disappointed in Leeds, after registering scores of 0 and 20. The lower-order collapse, mixed with some toothless bowling and horrible fielding, were the major reasons behind India going 1-0 down in the series.