Ben Stokes blasted for 'staggering' decision that let Gill, Jaiswal dominate vs England: 'It looked like a Day 3 pitch'
Ben Stokes faced heat from former cricketers after his decision to bowl in the 1st Test against India backfired during Day 1.
Michael Vaughan didn’t mince words after watching England captain Ben Stokes' bold decision to bowl first at Headingley spectacularly backfire on Day 1 of the opening Test against India. Under bright sunshine and with a dry pitch on offer, Ben Stokes' call to let India bat raised eyebrows, none more arched than Vaughan’s.
“I am an old school traditionalist here at Leeds that when the sun is shining, with dry weather, you bat. I was staggered when he said he was going to bowl,” Vaughan said, clearly unimpressed.
Also read: Sachin Tendulkar rubs salt on England's wounds after India dominate Day 1, Sourav Ganguly's reaction adds to the agony
“Traditions are out the window. You always have to pick your decisions on that moment, and not things that you did here years ago or at other times. It can't affect what the decision is today.”
By stumps, India had racked up 359/3. Yashasvi Jaiswal’s fluent 101 set the tone while new captain Shubman Gill remained unbeaten on 127, his first century outside Asia. Together, they stitched a third-wicket partnership that left England's bowlers searching for answers.
On Sky Sports Cricket, Mark Butcher, too, was astonished by Stokes' decision to bat first. He said he would've never decided to do “anything other than bat” had he been the English skipper.
“We turned up at around 9:20 this morning. Blazing sunshine, (I) walked straight towards the pitch, it looked as flat as I had ever seen one before the start of a Test match. It looked like a Day 3 pitch, where the grass is shaved down. It was turning brown already before a ball was bowled. I couldn't see any world in which, had I ever been captain, I would've done anything other than batting first,” said Butcher.
“Everything about today was screaming, 'bat'. England didn't do that, they were slightly fortunate to pick two wickets before lunch.”
Southee on the decision
The visitors’ dominance left England’s new bowling consultant Tim Southee defending the toss decision. “It was a tough day but we will get our opportunity to bat soon,” said Southee.
“We will come back tomorrow and try to make some inroads. There were two great knocks, Jaiswal and Pant are class players. A lot of guys chipped in around those knocks too.”
Even the numbers were damning. Analysts revealed that only 9 of the 175 balls faced by Gill on the day would have hit the stumps, highlighting England’s poor discipline in line and length. Chris Woakes, returning to the XI, conceded 89 runs in 19 wicketless overs. Stokes, who had played just one competitive match this year before this Test, ended as England’s most effective bowler with figures of 2/43 in 13 overs.
Despite the stat that the last six Tests at Headingley were won by teams batting second, the call to bowl on a pitch with minimal movement looked deeply flawed.
