India loses the first Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series at Headingley by 5 wickets. This was a shocking loss for Team India after 5 centuries were made by the Indian batsmen in the course of the Test match.
What went wrong for Team India to lose this match when England had to chase a record 371 runs to win the test match on day 5?
First Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series at Headingley
First Innings : Leeds Test Match
After being put to bat, India made the most out of a nice batting track and piled in the runs, putting the visitors in charge of the Test match on day 1.
After centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant, India was on course to 500+ runs.
England, however, came back into the Test match, executing a spectacular collapse with Team India losing the last seven wickets for just 41 runs. India ended up with 471 runs.
England, playing catch-up after India’s first innings score of 471, was helped by some very ordinary Indian fielding performances, with multiple dropped catches, poor field placements, and terrible bowling rotations.
India lifted their foot off the pedal and let England come back into the game. India could have had a huge first innings lead of 150+ which ended up with only 6 runs. This was one of the many turning points of this Test match. After the end of the first innings, England would have been a happier camp than India.
For England, Ollie Pope smashed his ninth Test century and a quickfire 99 from Harry Brook was evidence enough that England would come hard in the 4th innings too
Second Innings : Leeds Test Match
India managed to pull back lost ground in the third innings, but some strange tactics by the captain and coach saw India slow the pace of the game with batsmen hardly scoring when the situation expected India to go full throttle and bat England out of the Test match.
After KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant’s heroics in the second innings, a late innings collapse, yet again, dented an impressive 3rd Innings batting display. Like the first innings, India went on to lose six wickets for just 16 runs.
This cost India dearly, and in the end, the visitors posted a lead of 364 runs, giving England a target of 371 to chase down for the victory.
This was another turning point of the game, which brought England back into the Test match with a win-in-sight scenario from a hopeless situation.
England, known for its approach and style of play to Test cricket, was expected to go for the win, and that they did.
In the 4th innings, England once again stunned India with a historic run chase and chased down the target of 371, having five wickets in hand.
Led by a sensational innings from Ben Duckett (149), England took 82 overs to chase down the massive target, scoring at a run rate of 4.54. This was the second-highest successful run chase by England in Tests.
India’s bowling looked toothless on the batting-friendly track, even on a 5th-day pitch.
What went Wrong for Team India?
Fielding is one aspect of the game that is in the hands of the players and can be improved constantly. Hence, those dropped catches will come to haunt the Indian team in the series. Bowling, looked ineffective with Siraj and Prasidh easily not good enough for Test cricket in their current form.
A costly no-ball by Bumrah in England’s first innings will haunt India. Brook could’ve been out on 0, and the story of the test would have been different.
On Day 5, while all results of a Test match was possible, Indian bowling was below-par and Bumrah was unable to take any wickets in his 19 overs.
Some of our readers’ views on the test match loss
Nilesh Dadpe:
“The so-called all-rounders have led to India’s defeat today. After hitting 470 in 1st innings and then losing the match by 5 wickets, the bowlers have let us down.
Jadeja, who has been no. 1 premier spinner can’t even take wickets on a last day pitch with 370 runs to defend.”
Anil Sadaye:
“If all the catches were held, we would have got a 100+ lead in the first innings, and Bumrah’s wicketless spell proved costly”.
SuperSports View
Gautam Gambhir’s record as a Test Coach will come under scrutiny with multiple Test series loss and also with the current first Test loss.
Gambhir has been successful in the shorter format of the game, winning the ICC T20 World Cup and the Champions Trophy in 2024 and 2025, respectively. But the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series could be a make-or-break series for the Indian coach in the longer format game, and BCCI may consider looking at different coaches for different formats.
Shardul Thakur was included in the playing 11 as a bowling all-rounder, and bowled only 6 overs and 10 overs in the match. It was as if the player did not exist for the Indian captain, Shubman Gill. The captain also looked clueless at several moments when India was fielding.
India, in this Test series, will also need to put on their thinking caps to decide which Test matches Bumrah will miss or play. In most likely scenario, he may sit out the next match, and in that case, there is a case for Kuldeep and Arshdeep to be brought in the playing eleven.
The bigger question is, does India even stand a chance without Jaspreet Bumrah?
Watch this space for more.
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