England’s decision to bowl first on a flaccid pitch in Headingley has not gone down well with former England captain Michael Vaughan as India piled on 359 for 3 on the opening day of the first Test.
Maintaining that the strength of the England team is its batting and not bowling, Vaughan said, “I am an old school traditionalist. Here at Leeds, when the sun is shining and the weather is dry, you bat. There is inexperience in England’s bowling at the moment. Ben Stokes clearly had a gut feeling, and sometimes it has worked.”
England have mostly preferred to field first since Stokes became captain in 2022. The recent record at Headingley, where the side fielding first has won the last six Test matches, might have prompted Stokes to have a go at Indian batsmen first.
Vaughan does not think that’s the way to go about it. “You always have to pick your decisions on that moment, and not things that you did here years ago. It was a good pitch, so it’s not easy to restrict runs. Ben Stokes is still positive and he will come back tomorrow saying ‘let's get seven wickets’. We won't know that for sure until we see Jasprit Bumrah bowl. He can bowl you out with anything. Until I see that, I will hold my judgement on how flat this pitch is,” he said.
Southee defends Stokes
Supporting captain Ben Stokes’ decision to bowl first, England fast-bowling consultant Tim Southee said the pitch was expected to be conducive for bowlers in the opening session, but they were undone by India’s young and talented batsmen.
“With the colour of the wicket and a little bit of moisture left in it, if there was a bit of help in it, it was probably going to be in the morning. That was the thinking behind the decision. You look at the surface and make the decision on what you think will give you the best chance. Not all the time do you get it right,” Southee said at a press conference.
He, however, credited Indian batsmen with reading the conditions well and proving England's decision wrong. “The openers negotiated the first hour well. Shubman Gill’s knock was especially impressive, given the circumstances. They may not have played a lot of cricket coming in, but they’re certainly talented.”
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