- The five-match Test series between India and England was the focus of the international cricketing fraternity for various reasons. The first and foremost reason was that the Indian Test cricket team was not represented by the talismanic batting mainstay, Virat Kohli, after more than a decade. The Hitman Rohit Sharma too was not present for the marquee event because both the stalwarts announced retirement from the Tests before the England series began. These two retirements prompted the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the selectors to choose a new Test captain. The chosen player to lead the side was yet to be established stylish batter, the young Shubhman Gill, whose place in the Tests was still not assured. But things have to move on.
PC: CricTracker
- The players chosen for the gruelling series were young and experienced, with Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, and Rishabh Pant qualifying as the senior pros among the younger lot with tonnes of promises to excel at the classical format of the game. The first Test at Leeds would thus suggest which way the series would progress. At the conclusion of the five days of fantastic cricket, where the bat and the ball contested so evenly, the home team has emerged triumphant, scoring an emphatic five-wicket victory chasing a formidable target of 370 runs in the second innings. Cricket connoisseurs would be aware of the brand of cricket played by England, whose attacking instincts to go for the win at all costs are known around the world as Bazball.
PC: The Federal
- Team India batted admirably well in both innings, with the top order delivering spectacularly. Three centuries in the first innings and two centuries in the second innings were the highlights. Opener Yashaswi Jaiswal, captain Shubhman Gill, and keeper-batter Rishabh Pant scored hundreds in the first innings. In the second innings, opener KL Rahul and again, keeper-batter Rishabh Pant scored hundreds. However, the lower middle-order batters in both innings failed miserably to complement the efforts of the batters. The bowling was led by an indefatigable and increasingly penetrative Jasprit Bumrah, who took five-fer in the first innings. However, he went wicketless in the second innings, failing to provide a breakthrough at the start or the middle of the innings.
PC: India Today
- For England, Ollie Pope – who scored a hundred, and Harry Brook, out for agonizing 99, were the standout performers in the first innings. While chasing, it was the measured attacking innings of Ben Duckett’s 149 that proved to be a game-changer. The cool, restrained, and experienced Joe Root was at the end to guide the home team home with a win in the series opener. If Team India desires to provide any semblance of stiff opposition to the home team in the remainder of the series, the bowlers must pull up their weights by shouldering more decisive responsibilities alongside Bumrah. Mind you, Bumrah is expected to play in three Tests only to manage his dicey back. In the absence of Bumrah, who will step up to keep the marauding English batters at bay? No answers, yet. Deservedly, England won the Leeds Test and have gone 1-0 up in the series.
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