In this Test match at Headingley, India scored 471 runs in their first innings. In reply, England scored 465 runs, trailing by six runs. In their second innings, India managed 364 runs, setting England a challenging target of 371 runs. However, the English team achieved this target in just 82 overs on the final day, losing only five wickets. The four main reasons for India’s defeat were average bowling, poor fielding, Gill’s poor captaincy, and the collapse of India’s lower order.
Collapse of India’s Lower Order
India’s lower order collapsed in both innings. In the first innings, the last seven wickets fell for only 41 runs, while in the second innings, the last six wickets tumbled for just 31 runs. Captain Shubman Gill (शुभमन गिल) himself admitted that the failure of the lower-order batsmen was a crucial factor in the defeat.Average Bowling Performance by Indian Bowlers
Except for pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah, no other Indian bowler made much of an impact. Bumrah took five wickets for 83 runs in the first innings but went wicketless in the second, conceding 57 runs. Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, and Shardul Thakur were disappointing. Siraj picked up two wickets in the first innings but failed to take any in the second. Prasidh Krishna claimed five wickets across both innings but leaked plenty of runs—128 runs in 20 overs at an economy of 6.40 in the first innings, and over 90 runs at an economy above 6 in the second..Shardul Thakur Disappoints with Both Bat and Ball
Shardul Thakur was preferred over all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy. Expectations were that he would perform better than Reddy with both bat and ball. However, Thakur completely failed with the bat, scoring 1 run in the first innings and 4 in the second. His bowling performance also fell short of expectations. He didn’t take any wickets in the first innings, although he bowled only six overs at an economy rate of 6.30, conceding 38 runs. In the second innings, he took two wickets but remained expensive, conceding 51 runs in 10 overs at an economy rate of 5.10.India’s Poor Fielding
Indian fielders dropped seven catches in this Test match. This is the first time since 2019 that the team has dropped five or more catches in the first innings of a Test match. The worst fielding performance came from young player Yashasvi Jaiswal, who dropped four catches. Jaiswal dropped three catches off Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling in the first innings and one off Mohammed Siraj’s bowling in the second innings, that of Ben Duckett, who later went on to score a century.Questions Raised on Shubman Gill’s Captaincy
Questions have been raised about the strategy of Shubman Gill, who was captaining a Test match for the first time. There were shortcomings in the selection and utilisation of bowlers, particularly in field placements. Yashasvi repeatedly made mistakes in the slips, but Gill didn’t remove him. Sai Sudharsan is a better slip fielder, and Gill could have replaced Yashasvi with him. Yashasvi had mostly fielded in the gully during the Australia tour, making his placement in the slips a significant error of judgment by the captain. Furthermore, in the first innings, when England had lost eight wickets, Gill delayed bringing Bumrah into the attack. When Bumrah finally bowled, he quickly dismissed Chris Woakes and Jos Tongue, ending the English innings. However, by then, England had almost erased India’s lead. Gill also gave Shardul Thakur only six overs, despite his form suggesting he deserved more opportunities. Thakur is a better bowler with the new ball, yet he was brought on in the 40th over.
