Michael Vaughan could barely believe it when Ben Stokes chose to field under a bright, baking Leeds sky, and by stumps India had turned that invitation into 359 for 3. The England captain explained at the toss that his side would “look to use the early conditions”, yet the move left plenty of observers scratching their heads.
The recent Headingley record – six straight Tests won by the side bowling first – offered some precedent, but Vaughan felt the logic ended there. “I’m a bit of an old-school traditionalist here at Leeds that, when the sun shines, it’s quite an easy decision, particularly with the build-up to the Test match and it being so dry and so nice,” he said on BBC Test Match Special. “I was staggered… when I heard he was going to bowl first. I thought, traditions have gone out the window.”
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill made the most of the generosity, each crafting fluent hundreds that forced England straight onto the back foot. Later, Sanjay Manjrekar suggested the pair had made the home attack look “insipid”, a verdict few in the Western Terrace argued with.
England have chased successfully here against Australia (2019, 2023) and New Zealand (2022), while also suffering at West Indies’ hands in 2017. Vaughan, though, warned against leaning too heavily on the folklore. “I know England have won chasing here quite a number of times over the recent times, but you always have to pick your decisions on that moment: just because you’ve won a year ago, two years ago, or three years ago, it can’t really affect what the decision is today. And they’ve allowed India with a youngish batting line-up and a new captain to just go and play.”
The former skipper also pointed to the inexperience of England’s attack, with Josh Tongue and Brydon Carse sharing a mere ten caps. “You look at the suits of the England side and their strength, really, is in the batting,” he added. “Ben just had a gut feeling, I guess, and in recent times it’s worked.”
Bowling consultant Tim Southee defended the call, insisting the pitch had offered early encouragement. “With the colour of the wicket yesterday and a little bit of moisture left in it, we thought there’d be a little bit left in it this morning,” he said. “There was a little bit of assistance there, but for the rest of the day, it was a pretty good surface.”
India’s dominant start has left England banking on familiar fourth-innings heroics, yet Stokes’s gambit already carries a whiff of regret. A hot, dry Headingley rarely sides with bowlers after day one, and England must now hope the pitch tires more quickly than their spirits.
