India found itself reflecting on both achievements and missed opportunities after losing to England on Tuesday in their first Test without veterans Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravichandran Ashwin in over a decade.
Led by new captain Shubman Gill, the reshaped Indian team put England under pressure at Headingley but failed to capitalize at crucial moments.
Despite putting up big totals of 471 and 364, India lost the opening match of the five-Test series by five wickets, as England successfully chased down a daunting target of 371 in the final session.
This marks only the second time India has lost a Test while defending a score of over 350. The first occurred in 2022, also against England, when they chased down 378 at Edgbaston under coach Brendon McCullum and skipper Ben Stokes.
Both sides will meet again at Edgbaston for the second Test next week.
India made history by becoming the first team in first-class cricket — not just in Tests — to score five individual centuries in a match and still lose.
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The visitors had several chances to bat England out of the contest but failed to do so twice.
Opting to bat first after losing the toss, India rode on centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal, Gill, and Rishabh Pant to reach 430-3 but were eventually bowled out for 471.
In the second innings, Lokesh Rahul and Pant scored hundreds to push India to 333-4, only for the innings to collapse again to 364.
The inability of the middle and lower order to extend India's dominance proved costly. While a target of 371 was substantial, Gill admitted they had hoped to set England a target of around 430.
“We spoke about the first-innings collapse,” Gill said. “It happens, we have to rectify that.”
Fielding errors compounded India's problems. Dropped catches in the first innings allowed England to add 146 runs they might not have otherwise scored.
Ben Duckett, dropped on 15, went on to make 62. Ollie Pope was given a life on 60 and reached 106. Harry Brook, dropped on 46 after being reprieved by a no-ball on 0, scored 99.
England's opening pair also benefited from missed chances on Tuesday. Jasprit Bumrah put down a difficult caught-and-bowled chance when Zak Crawley was on 42 — he went on to score 65. Jaiswal, who had already dropped two earlier catches, grassed another when Duckett was on 97. Duckett went on to make 149.
Another moment of frustration came when Ben Stokes, on 22, popped a chance off his glove between wicketkeeper Pant and Rahul at leg slip, but neither could react.
“We had our chances,” Gill said. “Dropped catches (and the) lower (batting order) not contributing cost us. Chances don't come easy on wickets like this, but we have a young team, a learning one."
The result also stung because Jasprit Bumrah, India's top bowler, will be available for only two of the remaining four Tests due to back injury management. Bumrah claimed five wickets in the first innings but went wicketless in the second.
Gill couldn't confirm when Bumrah would return.
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“It’s decided game by game,” he said. “Once we’re close to the next game after a long break, we’ll see.”
Source: Agency