England ke kaptaan Ben Stokes ne toss jeetkar pehle bowling chuni, jo dry pitch aur sunny weather mein galat sabit hui. Vaughan, ek purane Yorkshire khiladi, ne BBC Test Match Special par kaha, “Leeds mein jab dhoop hoti hai, to batting pehli pasand honi chahiye.”
India ke naye kaptaan Shubman Gill (127*) aur opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (101) ne shandaar shatak lagaye, jinhone England ke bowlers ko pareshan kiya. Rishabh Pant (65*) ne bhi aggressive batting se 138-run ki partnership banayi. Yeh performance India ke 2002 Headingley Test ki yaad dilati hai, jab Rahul Dravid aur Sourav Ganguly ne shatakon se 279-run ki jeet dilayi thi.
England ka yeh nirnay unke recent trend ko darshata hai—Stokes ke kaptaani mein, unhone 9 home Tests mein sirf ek baar toss jeetkar batting chuni. Headingley ke pichhle 6 Tests mein bowl-first team jeeti, jo shayad Stokes ke faisle ka aadhar tha. Lekin Vaughan ne kaha, “Faisla current conditions par hona chahiye, na ki purane stats par.”
England ke bowlers, jaise Chris Woakes (18 overs, 81 runs) aur Brydon Carse (15 overs, 70 runs, 1 wicket), struggle kiye. Sirf Stokes (2/43) ne kuch prabhav dikhaya. Yeh 2017 West Indies ke Headingley Test se bilkul ulta tha, jab Jason Holder ne England ko chase mein haraya tha.
India ke liye, Jaiswal ka shatak unke 2024 England series ke 712 runs ke record ko aur mazboot karta hai. Gill ka captaincy debut century unhe Sourav Ganguly (1996) aur Virat Kohli (2014) jaise Indian captains ke elite club mein shamil karta hai.
Player Stats (Day 1, India Batting)
| Player | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | Strike Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | 101 | 159 | 16 | 1 | 63.52 |
| Shubman Gill | 127* | 175 | 16 | 1 | 72.57 |
| Rishabh Pant | 65* | 102 | 6 | 2 | 63.73 |
| KL Rahul | 42 | 78 | 8 | 0 | 53.84 |
England Bowling Stats
| Bowler | Overs | Runs | Wickets | Economy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Stokes | 15 | 43 | 2 | 2.86 |
| Brydon Carse | 15 | 70 | 1 | 4.66 |
| Chris Woakes | 18 | 81 | 0 | 4.50 |
| Shoaib Bashir | 15 | 65 | 0 | 4.33 |
X par fans ne bhi Stokes ke nirnay ki aalochana ki, ek user (@henryellison30) ne kaha, “32 degrees mein flat pitch par bowling? Yeh India ko confidence dene jaisa hai.”
Vaughan ne Jasprit Bumrah ke bowling ka zikr kiya, jo pitch ke asli test ko darshayega. 1986 mein Kapil Dev ke 5 wickets ya 2002 mein Zaheer Khan ke swing bowling ki tarah, Bumrah England ke liye khatarnak sabit ho sakte hain
