6 hours ago
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When you win the toss at Headingley – cliche klaxon – you’re supposed to look up (at the weather) rather than down at the pitch. England did neither: they looked backwards at the data, which told them the last six Tests in Leeds have been won by the team bowling first. A seventh really would be magnificent.
Read Ali Martin’s day one report
This being Headingley, so often a scene of the absurd and a ground where the last six Tests have been won by the side who bowled first, England will refuse to believe they are snookered. By the same token, inviting a team to bat first under clear skies and then having them dominate all three sessions was clearly suboptimal. The air was soupy, the outfield fast, and England failed to locate the Headingley length.
Preamble
Ever have one of those days you wish you could live all over again? England’s decagon of destiny, as nobody is calling it, got off to a honking start yesterday when India strolled to 359 for three after being put into bat by Ben Stokes.
As ill-conceived as Stokes’ decision was, we should remember that India would have done the same. The main reasons for India’s dominance were the brilliance of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill, poster boys for a new India, and a rusty, erratic performance from England’s three main seamers.
Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue all went at more than 4.3 per over, a situation that in some cultures would be described as sub-optimal. England will surely bowl better today, buoyed as much as anything by precedent: they are the only team in Test history to win two games after bowling first and conceding 500.
Right now, although India are in complete control, there is a credible path to victory for England. Not sure that’ll be the case if Rishabh Pant is still batting at lunch. If Pant tees off today, England may have to countenance something even more disgusting than defeat: a draw.
