India lose first Test to England they should have won as dropped catches and batting collapses cost tourists dear
Oodles of dropped catches and two dismal batting collapses cost India dear in first Test against England at Headingley; Shubman Gill's side lose by five wickets after dominating for much of the match, with new captain's inexperience perhaps showing - second Test at Edgbaston begins July 2
Tuesday 1 July 2025 09:58, UK
One of the underlying questions coming out of the first Test at Headingley is how on earth did India lose it.
They often had England on the ropes yet contrived to throw those advantages away through batting collapses and grassed catches.
Never before had a side notched five individual hundreds in a Test and lost but that's exactly what happened to Shubman Gill's men in Leeds, with tons for the skipper, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul plus two for the zany Rishabh Pant ultimately coming in vain.
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A large reason was five dropped chances in England's opening knock - the most India had shelled in an innings in five years - including Ollie Pope being spilled on 60 before making 106, Ben Duckett 15 before hitting 62 and Harry Brook 58 before scoring 99.
Brook was also reprieved on nought by a Jasprit Bumrah no-ball when scuffing a short delivery to Mohammed Siraj at mid-on, with that array of blunders really costing India as England ended just six runs shy of their opponents' first-innings total.
In truth, though, India could already have been out of sight.
After a superb opening day for the tourists as they racked up 359-3 in glorious batting conditions, which left many questioning the wisdom of England captain Ben Stokes opting to bowl first, they extended that to 430-3 the following morning. Then crumbled.
Batting collapses prove costly for India
There was a meltdown of 7-41 after Gill was caught off Shoaib Bashir in the deep as India had to settle for 471 all out. And then they made the same mistake in their second innings, wilting from 334-4 to 364 all out once Rahul dragged Brydon Carse onto his stumps.
Shardul Thakur, picked at No 8 to add ballast down the order, made a grand total of five runs in the match. Not what you are after from your bowling all-rounder.
England did brilliantly to complete their second-highest Test run chase of 371. But they will know, and India will know, that they should have been set something stratospheric.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri said on Sky Sports Cricket: "This will be a tough pill for India to swallow. You don't get in positions like this very often and blow it from there. They had a chance to take England out of the contest and dictate terms.
"They have to learn and they need more bottle from the tail, for them to be stubborn and put a price tag on their wicket," added Shastri, with one option to select all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy - who hit a hundred in Australia this winter - for the second Test at Edgbaston from Wednesday July 2.
"There is a big role for the coaching staff to take the positives. As a captain, Gill has done more than can be asked of him.
"He got a hundred in his first Test in charge and the dropped catches [and collapses] are not in his control."
'Gill was reactive rather than proactive'
Dropped catches also hindered India on the final day, with Duckett grassed by Jaiswal on 97 before he went on to sweep and reverse sweep his way to a dizzying 149 and Zak Crawley shelled one-handed by gun bowler Jasprit Bumrah in his knock of 65.
It ended up a baptism of fire for Gill in his first Test since succeeding the now-retired Rohit Sharma as captain and Sky Sports' Nasser Hussain said his greenness showed.
"I saw someone finding his way," Hussain said of Gill. "He didn't quite have that on-field aura of Rohit and [Virat Kohli]. I thought he followed the ball a lot and was reactive rather than proactive.
"When Rohit and Kohli captained, you looked down and you immediately knew who was in charge but when I looked down in this game I saw two or three captains, captaincy by committee. But India lost from two things Gill couldn't control - drops and collapses.
"The collapses concern me. In India they have had spin-bowling all-rounders that are magnificent - Ravi Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel - but in England they are still looking for a seam-bowling all-rounder who can bat.
"If they keep going 6-31 and 7-41 this could be a quick series."
Can India afford to rest Bumrah?
Another conundrum for India to solve is when Bumrah features again.
The No 1 fast bowler in the world, who took five wickets in England's first innings in Leeds, only plans to play three of the five Tests in order to manage his workload after a recent back injury - but the attack can be powderpuff and leaky when he is not operating.
At Headingley, Bumrah recorded match figures of 5-140 from 43.4 overs at at an economy rate of 3.20.
The other seamers - Thakur, Siraj and Prasidh Krishna - registered combined figures of 9-482 from 92 overs. A big chasm.
So, do India wheel Bumrah out again in a little over a week's time?
Shastri added: "If he was looking at a rest you may have to think twice. If you don't have him and then go 2-0 down it could be an uphill task."
It might already be an uphill task for India, having slipped 1-0 down against an England side so dominant in their home conditions. But it should be Gill's men with a 1-0 lead.
England vs India Test series ☀️
All games at 11am UK and Ireland; all live on Sky Sports
- First Test, Headingley - England won by five wickets
- Second Test: Wednesday July 2 - Sunday July 6 - Edgbaston
- Third Test: Thursday July 10 - Monday July 14 - Lord's
- Fourth Test: Wednesday July 23 - Sunday July 27 - Old Trafford
- Fifth Test: Thursday July 31 - Monday August 4 - The Kia Oval
