Many experts discarded a comeback from England because of how things unfolded in the Lord’s Test. But the hosts caught India cold on the first day of the Leeds Test despite being written off even by the England pundits.
For a change, Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bat first while naming an unchanged playing XI. Joe Root announced Dawid Malan and Craig Overton’s inclusion in place of Dom Sibley and Mark Wood.
Also Read: England fans wave cheerio to send off Virat Kohli in Headingley
Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul have been giving a good start to India on this tour but James Anderson removed the latter in the first over. Cheteshwar Pujara was also removed by Anderson after scoring just one run and India were still processing things.
Virat Kohli came in and tried to steady things but perished to his nemesis Anderson once again while fishing outside the off stumps. And just that, India were found in the hangover of the Lord’s victory by a peak Anderson.
Ajinkya Rahane fell at the stroke of lunch with India being 56/4. Things unfolded pretty quickly in the second session with India went from 67/5 to 67/9. The formalities were wrapped up for 78 as India fell off the cliff.
Anderson and Overton managed to take three wickets apiece while Sam Curran and Ollie Robinson sneaked two wickets each.
Also Read: James Anderson dismisses Virat Kohli again
In response, England openers shrugged off the lows of the previous Test and didn’t allow the Indian pacers to make early inroads. Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed, opening for the first time together, creamed runs for fun and scored their respective fifties.
England crossed India’s 78 without losing a single wicket. And it remained the same way with England being 120 – 42 runs ahead. It summed up India’s horrible day of the tour.
See how Twitter reacted to this game;
England have done what India did post that 36 all out in Adelaide. And India seem all too consumed with that ‘show of aggression’. Such an abject surrender #IndvsEng #Headingley
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) August 25, 2021
78 all out is India's 7th lowest total in Test history (when all out)
It's also their 3rd lowest total in Test history in the 1st innings of a match (when all out)#engvsindia #Cricket
— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) August 25, 2021
Ishant obviously a big fan of @thehundred , keen to bowl 10 first up #IndvsEng
— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) August 25, 2021
Cricket is a mad game. England rampant! #ENGvIND
— Isa Guha (@isaguha) August 25, 2021
Disappointed with @imVkohli's dismissal.
He should look to get set first and then look to time the ball, this is a game of patience… Once he gets set, we all know that hundred is coming#ENGvIND— Vinod Kambli (@vinodkambli349) August 25, 2021
To have gone 50 innings without an international 100 is a lesser concern. The big one: Virat appears fallible inning after inning after inning. Halfway through this series, 69 runs in 4 innings, He's The Story #IndvsEng #ViratKohli
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) August 25, 2021
Going to tweet less this week & do more Instagram Stories. Come visit- StuartBroad on Instagram
— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) August 25, 2021
Anderson gets Kohli too nicking behind. We are seeing one of the great opening spells in modern cricket. What a crisis India find themselves in after the rousing win at Lord’s!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) August 25, 2021
You actually feel for Ravi Ashwin but frankly it was a very difficult and perhaps improbable task to change the bowling unit that did as well at Lords. #IndvsEng
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) August 25, 2021
