Former England captain Alastair Cook questioned England captain Ben Stokes’ decision to bowl first after winning the toss in the first Test against India at Headingley, Leeds, on Friday, June 20. England had no hesitation in inviting the Indian team to bat first, even though it was a sunny day as well. With no overcast conditions to help their new-ball case, the English bowling unit struggled against the Indian openers and eventually both Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill smashed centuries alongside Rishabh Pant’s fifty.

“The fact it’s so hot… If you bowl first and don’t bowl them out, you’re bowling all day. England are guaranteed to bowl all day, and probably a bit tomorrow, looking at the conditions, unless India don’t bat as well as they’ve started. Therefore, you’re backing up. Say India bat 120 overs. They only have to bowl for two sessions (on day two). You feel like you can control the game more if you bat first,” Cook said on BBC’s Test Match Special (via the Indian Express).

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Meanwhile, another former player, Michael Vaughan, also slammed Ben Stokes’ idea of bowling first.

“I’m an old school traditionalist here at Leeds: when the sun is shining, with dry weather, you bat. I was staggered when he said he was going to bowl. Traditions are out the window. You look at the England side, and their strength is in the batting. There is inexperience in the bowling at the moment, but Ben clearly had a gut feeling, and sometimes that has worked,” Vaughan said on Day 1 of the first Test (via The Independent). “We won’t know for sure until we see Jasprit Bumrah bowl on it. He can bowl you out with anything. Until I see that, I will hold my judgment on how flat this pitch is.”