Former England captain Michael Vaughan was “staggered” by Ben Stokes’ decision to put India in on day one of the Rothesay Test series at Headingley.
The tourists enjoyed a dream start to this summer’s five-match main event, taking control with a commanding total of 359 for three as Yashavi Jaiswal (101) and new captain Shubman Gill (127no) made themselves at home in Yorkshire.
England’s batters would have been forgiven for wishing it was them piling up the runs on a friendly surface, rather than chasing the ball around in 28 degree heat, and would have had the chance had Gill called correctly.
Like Stokes he planned to bowl first, following a trend that has seen six successive victories at this ground by the team who took the the field.
But Vaughan, who grew up playing his cricket here for Yorkshire, was still surprised to see his successor gamble against long-term convention.
“I’m an old school traditionalist here at Leeds: when the sun is shining, with dry weather, you bat,” he said.
“I was staggered when he said he was going to bowl. Traditions are out the window. You look at the England side and their strength is in the batting. There is inexperience in the bowling at the moment, but Ben clearly had a gut feeling, and sometimes that has worked.”
Vaughan also cautioned against marking the game down as a guaranteed run-fest, pointing to the presence of the inimitable Jasprit Bumrah in the away dressing room.
Backed by a big chunk of scoreboard pressure, the paceman is likely to pose a serious threat regardless of conditions.
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“We won’t know for sure until we see Jasprit Bumrah bowl on it,” said Vaughan.
“He can bowl you out with anything. Until I see that, I will hold my judgment on how flat this pitch is.”
With England wearied by their work, they sent out short-term bowling consultant Tim Southee to make their case.
The recently retired New Zealander, who has taken over the mentoring role following James Anderson’s return to county cricket, said: “When you win the toss and bowl you expect to make early inroads but the Indian openers negotiated that first hour or so pretty well.
“If there was a little bit of moisture left in it, it was probably going to be this morning. You look at the surface and make the decision based on what you think will give you the best chance. Not all the the time do you get it right. But credit to the Indian batsmen, in particular Jaiswal and Gill, they played a couple of great hands.”
Jaiswal, who continued his dominant form against an England side he took for 712 runs in the previous series on Indian soil, was jubilant.
“It was very special, it meant a lot to me,” he said.
“I just wanted to get in and do something for my team, for my country and for myself after the work I have put it. I loved it.”
