It was runs galore in the first Test at Headingley which concluded in an exhilarating final-hour victory for Ben Stokes and England on day five.
If this match is a harbinger of things to come, fans of England, India and Test cricket as a whole are in for a bumper summer.
Regardless of which side of the fence you were on, this Test had everything – bulk runs, incisive bowling, lavish strokeplay and a run chase for the ages.
Now with a week to go before the second Test at Edgbaston, Mohan Harihar looks back and discusses six talking points from the first Test and their implications moving forward in the series.
Duckett and company pace it just right
Since June 2022, the concern leading into an English home summer is whether Bazball’s excesses will get the better of them.
At Headingley, Stokes’ batting unit showed in both innings what Bazball can be at its strategic, tempered best.
The first innings was spearheaded by a magnificent 106 from Ollie Pope and a romping 99 from Harry Brook, who set aside his overzealous impulses after being caught off a no-ball.
England’s batters strung together valuable partnerships throughout to reach parity with India’s 471.
By the time the fourth innings came about, England found themselves in their element. Day five run chases are as exciting as they are nerve-jangling, even with home comforts.
However, with this England side, fans, and even opposition, now expect the improbable.
Chasing 371 in the last innings, Stokes’ batters, led flawlessly by Ben Duckett (149), showed once again why they are fast becoming Test cricket’s modern pioneers in home run chases.
Duckett’s 188-run opening stand with Zak Crawley (65), who himself battled his natural attacking instincts, was the catalyst for the run chase.
The pair scored 96 runs in the first session on Day 5 while shrewdly blunting Bumrah and breaking the back of the chase early.
This was England’s 10th successful run chase on home soil in 11 attempts since Bazball’s inception.
In achieving this, they issue a warning to the Indian side moving forward in the series: no score is too daunting for them to hunt down.
READ MORE: England produce more memorable Headingley heroics to win first India Test
Josh Tongue triggers a batting collapse for India (twice)
Although Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer and Mark Wood are expected to make their return, England started the series with a depleted bowling attack following a plague of injuries to first-choice options.
The brightest spot in England’s bowling performance was Josh Tongue. His no-nonsense approach to wrapping up India’s tail – not once, but twice – proved invaluable in a high-scoring game where the most minute of openings for bowlers had to be charged through.
Tongue’s 4-86 and 3-72 triggered collapses in India’s first (430-3 to 471 all out) and second (333-4 to 364 all out) innings when the visitors looked set to bury England.
Cleaning up the lower order has been a thorn in England’s side in the last five years.
From Jasprit Bumrah’s and Mohammad Shami’s unbeaten 89-run partnership at Lord’s in 2021 to Pat Cummins‘ and Nathan Lyon’s unbroken 55-run stand at Edgbaston in 2023, England have found themselves squandering strong positions.
In Tongue, England may have found a bowler proficient in getting that job done, at least in this series.
Flat pitches narrow gulf
Flat pitches narrow the gulf between England’s settled, and India’s inexperienced, batting order.
Since setting sail on their Bazball voyage, the preparation of flat pitches at home has been the modus operandi for England.
This is a far cry from the visitors’ recent tours to England (2011, 2014, 2018 and 2021) where conditions were tailored to suit the likes of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes.
With run rates now in excess of four an over and a relentless desire to chase down any fourth-innings target, Stokes’ template for winning is transparent.
Newly-appointed captain Shubman Gill and his India side could be the first to genuinely test this fundamental pillar of Bazball.
Studded with aesthetic strokemakers with a penchant for T20 flair, the first Test showed us that India’s batters look well and truly set to fight fire with fire.
Yashasvi Jaiswal looked bold and unflustered during his first-innings 101, Gill too imperious in his 147. KL Rahul exuded self-assurance in his second-innings 137.
And Rishabh Pant proved to be as swashbuckling as ever with his twin tons, becoming only the second wicketkeeper-batter in Test history after Andy Flower to achieve the feat.
Flat pitches level the batting playing field and encourage the construction of long innings, especially when batting first.
Much, therefore, hinges on the bowlers to break open games.
Bumrah’s influence holds key to India’s fortunes
One compelling subplot that pervaded all discussions throughout the Test match related to one man – Jasprit Bumrah.
He currently boasts the lowest average in Test history among bowlers with at least 200 wickets (19.60) – surpassing the likes of Malcolm Marshall and Glenn McGrath – along with a strike rate on par with Dale Steyn (42.3).
Quite the résumé.
Bumrah’s exploits during India’s Test tour of Australia in 2024/2025 (32 wickets in nine innings at an average of 13.06) reinforced why he sits atop the ICC bowling rankings. Only Pat Cummins and Kagiso Rabada snap at his heels as credible contenders to the throne.
On a flat Headingley pitch it was again, for the most part, Bumrah against the world.
His 5-83 in England’s first innings suggested he was playing on a different surface to his team-mates, who collectively returned figures of 5-356.
While this can partly be chalked up to ring rust and warming into a series, something that looks stark when juxtaposed against Bumrah’s mastery, it was again evidence that only one man remains the major hindrance for England.
Not since Shane Warne‘s Herculean efforts in the 2005 Ashes series has a single bowler held sway over a contest.
In a series expected to feature a more intelligent version of Bazball – flat pitches and tactical front-foot batsmanship from Stokes’ men – Bumrah’s influence holds the key to India’s fortunes.
That said, the likes of Mohammad Siraj and Prasidh Krishna cannot afford to return expensive two- and three-wicket spells in their bid to support the number one bowler.
India coach Gautam Gambhir calls for patience, stating: ‘If we start judging our bowlers after every Test, how will we develop a bowling attack?
‘These boys will deliver for us.’
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Matt Jones: We need to talk about the Vitality Blast
Refined Bazball strategy showed glimpses of playing the long game against Bumrah
After sustaining a back injury on India’s tour of Australia, Bumrah is reacclimating to the rigours of Test cricket.
Down Under, aside from Travis Head whose counter-attacking style mirrors the Bazball experience, all Australian batters played the long game against Bumrah.
At the Melbourne Cricket Ground, he racked up 53.2 overs (his highest aggregate in a single match) on top of his cumulative workloads from the preceding Tests at Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide.
By the last Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, his series-ending injury left the ill-prepared remnants of a bowling attack to wilt as the Australians reclaimed the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
England’s fast scoring rate carries with it a small glimmer of hope for Indian fans as the series progresses.
Swift batting brings wicket-taking opportunities. Coupled with Stokes’ propensity for enterprising declarations, Bumrah could find himself negotiating only abbreviated outings in the field.
During England’s second innings at Headingley, however, there were glimpses of a top order willing to compromise on their aggressive batting dogma for India’s talismanic bowler.
Bumrah finished wicketless with the lowest economy rate (3.0 an over) of all the Indian bowlers; the rest returned economy rates between 3.6 and 6.1 an over.
Whether by design or by chance, England have landed on a ploy to resist Bumrah.
Reports indicate he will only take the field for three Tests – a bitter pill to swallow for the Indian faithful if this comes to pass.
For India, if Bumrah’s workloads are light and the series remains live by the fourth and fifth Tests, will Gambhir roll the dice on playing his most prized asset for an additional Test?
Kuldeep Yadav may be Bumrah’s best lieutenant as the summer progresses
India’s inclusion of Shardul Thakur, who failed to contribute runs batting number eight and bowled only 16 overs, drew some criticism for being an insurance batting pick.
The inconsistency of Siraj and Krishna compounded matters, leaving India to ponder over their optimal bowling combination ahead of the second Test at Edgbaston.
On reputation alone, India’s second most impactful bowler on tour is arguably wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav.
Classical wrist spin is no longer the vogue, sadly, but Yadav is a throwback to the art’s golden years.
Exceptional control of side spin and flight, inherent ‘mystery’ and the ability to beat both edges of the bat make him an attractive proposition.
On flat pitches parched by a hot, dry summer, Yadav could prove to be a reliable lieutenant for Bumrah.
England’s batters have traditionally struggled against high-quality spin; Yadav himself picked up 19 wickets against them last year in India.
Moreover, Ravindra Jadeja looked to lack an extra dimension as a bowler at Headingley as he turned the ball one way at predictably high air speeds.
With a little love and tactical nous from captain Gill, Yadav serves as an attacking option in a bowling group otherwise lacking discipline and bite when Bumrah does not have ball in hand.
Tradition suggests spin alone seldom wins series in England, an arena divinely crafted to cater for seamers of all flavours.
However, in the era of Test cricket we find ourselves in and mantras such as Bazball and the ‘Rishabh Pant school of batting’ becoming the norm, perhaps tradition and anachronisms are not what teams must follow when blueprinting ambitious Test wins in 2025.
READ NEXT: Richard Clarke: Jack Bond, Jacob Bethell and the catching revolution
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
