Five centuries and six ducks — that pretty much sums up India’s performance in the first Test at Headingley, Leeds that ended on Tuesday last. The ease with which the England batters chased down a challenging fourth innings target may make the match seem one-sided. But it was hardly that.

There were plenty of occasions where India was on top, which is quite commendable for a team that is in transition, with the retirement of heavyweights — Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin.

The openers — Yashaswi Jaiswal and KL Rahul scored classy centuries in each innings. Shubman Gill in his first Test as Captain played a skipper’s knock. Rahul is in sublime form. But the real story of the Test was Rishabh Pant’s century in each innings. Pant has endured a difficult year, with a mediocre performance in the Australian series, (where he was criticised for throwing away his wicket) followed by a forgettable IPL season. In Australia he seemed conflicted between playing in his usual swashbuckling style and playing the sheet anchor.

In Headingley he seemed to have found the right mix, though there were a few occasions where he couldn’t resist the ramp shot. It was the lower order batting collapse in both innings that did India in. After being 430 for three at one stage in the first innings, India should have really batted England out by posting a total over 550.

The bowling predictably came under the scanner, which apart from Jasprit Bumrah’s heroics didn’t have much to show for. But they toiled hard on a batting-friendly wicket against an England that can ‘outbat’ others.

There is a clamour for including Kuldeep Yadav in place of Shardul Thakur for the second Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham. This means going a batter short, so Sai Sudarshan and Karun Nair will have to start getting runs.

We’re headed for a long and exciting summer of cricket.

Published on June 30, 2025