3 harsh lessons for India post loss in ENG vs IND 2025 1st Test

England by beat India by five wickets at Headingley in Leeds on Tuesday, June 24 in the first Test of the five-match series. Having been set a target of 371 by India, the hosts went into Day 5 needing 350 runs for victory, with all their 10 wickets in hand. They got home in 82 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

England openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley set up the win for the team with a superb first-wicket stand of 188. Duckett slammed a brilliant149 off 170 balls, with the aid of 21 fours and one six. On the other hand, Crawley play the sheet anchor role, hitting seven fours in his 199-minute stay at the crease.

Following England's stellar start in the Test on Day 5, India staged a mini-fightback to reduce the hosts to 253-4. However, Joe Root (53*), skipper Ben Stokes (33) and Jamie Smith (44*) combined to take England home to what was, in the end, a rather thumping victory.

In the wake of India's five-wicket loss to England at Headingley, here are five harsh lessons for the visitors from the defeat.

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#1 Just being good against England is not good enough

It would be fair to say that India were the dominant side for the majority of first four days of the Leeds Test. Sent into bat, they were firmly on top after Day 1, going to stumps at 359-3. However, they suffered a shocking batting collapse and were all-out for 471. While it was a good score, it was not good enough to bat England out of the contest. Things could have been very different had they posted 600-plus.

Something similar happened in the second innings as well. Having gained a slender six-run lead, they found themselves in a commanding position at 287-3, only to give away the advantage and slip to 364 all-out. In the bowling department as well, there were periods where India were on top. However, such phases did not last long enough as England clawed their way back.

It goes without saying that India played some good cricket in the Leeds Test. But against this dangerous England side led by Stokes, just being good is not good enough. One needs to be ruthless, which is where India faltered. The visitors were in the ascendency more than once in the contest, but every time they slipped, England were ready to pounce on the opportunity and swing the contest.

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#2 No improvement in lower order batting

India's lower order batting has been a big concern for a while now. And the harsh reality after the Leeds loss to England is that the worry is an even greater one now. The visitors lost seven for 41 in the first innings and six for 31 in the second innings. One cannot expect to win Test matches against top sides with some lethargic batting displays.

Only one of the last six batters in India's line-up reached double figures in the first innings. In the second essay, the last four batters registered scores of 4,0,0,0. Josh Tongue claimed three wickets in four balls to engineer a stunning collapse. In contrast, Smith made crucial contributions for England in both innings, while Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse played defiant knocks in the first innings.

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#3 Quality of their bowling and fielding is pretty average

As harsh as it may sound, the Leeds loss reiterated that the quality of India's bowling and fielding in its present shape is pretty average. That the visitors were heavily dependent on Jasprit Bumrah was very much evident going into the series. However, the rest of the bowlers were highly disappointing to put it mildly.

Mohammed Siraj had yet another Test match in which he beat the batters a lot of times, but only ended up picking up two wickets. A similar pattern was observed during the tour of Australia too. And, while Prasidh Krishna picked up five wickets, he went at an economy rate of over six in both innings. Barring brief spells on Day 5, Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur were also not up to the mark.

India also suffered the consequence of some atrocious fielding. They dropped as many as six catches in the first innings and two in the second. Yashasvi Jaiswal was one of the major culprits in the fielding department. Catches win matches is quite a big cliché in cricket, but it holds true nonetheless. To sum up the Leeds result, India paid a heavy price for being insipid with the ball and in the field.