India vs England : 1st Test Match at Leeds, Day One..

 

India vs England : 1^st Test Match at Leeds

Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy

 

Day One :

The much awaited test match between India and England started today 20^th June 2025 at Leeds, England. It is sunny here at Leeds and Ben Stokes the England Captain after winning the toss decided to bowl. With much drier weather as compared to English conditions and sunny morning it is now debatable whether it was good toss to win. India took full advantage of the conditions with the new set up of eleven boys without their Masters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had lot to prove for themselves, and the day started on a bright note.

Both the openers Yashasvi and KL Rahul started the innings cautiously with mind set to play session by session particularly when they were sent to bat first by their opponents. English bowlers rarely had any impact on them and the idea to bowl first thereby using the wicket to get additional bounce and swing in the first hour was negated by both the openers. Barring a few tentative shots both Yshashvi and Rahul seemed to be in great touch in this format of the game. The opening pair led the team to a wonderful start putting 91 runs without loss when the partnership was broken by Carse taking advantage of the only moment when Rahul lost his patience. Sai Sudarshan the wonder boy who has proved himself in the domestic circuit in all formats and also in the recently concluded IPL was unable to hold his rush of excitement playing the first innings of his test career and had to pay the price. Suddenly at the stroke of the lunch it was 92 for 2.

Shubman Gill the Captain had a role to play on two counts; one the Captain and next playing in the batting slot of another great Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli. Maturity, elegance and the composure required to be steady while in 22 yards was displayed by Gill with full confidence and ease. None of the English bowlers could unsettle Gill and he cruised on towards playing for the day. The partnership Yashasvi and Gill produced was the sign of the new benchmark in Indian Cricket with two greats retiring from test Cricket. The band of English bowlers Woakes, Tongue and Carse rarely could trouble any of the batters except for couple of occasions and plundering of runs continued. It was only left to Ben Stokes and the off spinner Bashir to find the line and length to restrict the scoring.

Yashasvi had proved his point of his mindset in England, with his batting form which he continued from the last England series at home. He continued to play even with the strain in his right hand, belting the bowlers particularly Carse before  he crafted a very well made hundred before Tea  and on the other side Gill also remained unbeaten after scoring his fifty. At Tea India were 215 for 2.

Post Tea session saw a ray of hope for England with their Captain Stokes bowling a beauty which shattered the off stump of Yashasvi and India were 221 for 3. An excellent, majestic partnership comes to an end but giving India a rock solid start on the 1st day of the 1st test match. Vice Captain with lot of responsibilities walks down to bat at number 5 which also was not his batting order earlier. For a change the initial scores of runs scored by Pant were by rotating the strikes and occasional hits based on the merit of the ball. It seems he also had re-invented himself to this new position and understood the huge responsibility on his shoulders. However suddenly patience ran out and he miscued a shot of Bashir at midwicket, but the fielder was more inside thereby unable to reach the ball. However he made immediate amendments by hitting a towering six of the same bowler.

Gill got his opportunity by scoring easily and with a beautiful drive off Tongue he scored his century, the first by him as a Captain of the team. The character he displayed was unique and also it reflected on his role to lead from the front. In the last part of the session both Pant and Gill executed some excellent shots and Pant also completed his 50 in the 81^st over with a slog off Woakes towards mid on. The run feasts continued and the English pacers were unable to contain them, Woakes and Carse tried their luck but only to be belted by the mood that had set in for Gill and Pant. In 82^nd over India reached 350 for 3. It was the last over of the day, Ben Stokes was trying his luck to have one of them but Pant had different plans. The first ball, it was whacked over deep square leg for a mighty six. The 1st day ended at 359 for 3 another century partnership between the Captain and the Vice Captain.

It was a hard day for English bowlers and the team, India cruising to a big score are looking forward to the 2^nd day for a another effective batting display to put the hosts under pressure. The weather if remains the same it should definitely give advantage to the batters and we all wait for another glorious 2^nd day.

The final line, “whether it was a good toss to lose”?