5 stunning similarities in India's defeat against England in Leeds 2025 and Birmingham 2022

England beat India by five wickets at Headingley in Leeds in the first Test of the five-match series. With the hard-earned victory, the hosts took a crucial 1-0 lead in the series. Set a target of 371, England began Day 5 at 21-0. Their openers, Ben Duckett (149) and Zak Crawley (65) featured in a brilliant stand of 188 runs to put their team on course for victory.

Duckett hit 21 fours and a six in his 255-minute stay at the crease, while Crawley contributed a defiant half-century, hitting seven fours in 126 balls. India fought back with the ball to reduce England to 235-4 as Ollie Pope (8) and Harry Brook (0) perished cheaply. However, Joe Root (53*), Ben Stokes (33) and Jamie Smith (44*) combined to ensure England got over the line.

India's five-wicket loss to England in Leeds had striking similarities to their defeat against the same side at Edgbaston in Birmingham in 2022. Take a look.

---

#1 Team India posted 400+ on the board after being sent into bat

In both Test matches, Stokes won the toss and sent the opposition in. And, in both games, India scored 400-plus in their first innings. In Leeds, Team India put up a total of 471 as Yashasvi Jaiswal (101), Shubman Gill (147) and Rishabh Pant (134) hit magnificent hundreds.

In the 2022 Test in Birmingham, India scored 416 after being sent into bat. They lost half their side for 98 before Pant (146) and Ravindra Jadeja (104) lifted the visitors with a sixth-wicket stand of 222. Jasprit Bumrah also chipped in with an unbeaten 31 off 16, slamming four fours and two sixes.

---

#2 Rishabh Pant was Team India's leading run-getter

Keeper-batter Pant was India's leading run-getter in both Test matches. He followed up his 134 in the first innings in Leeds with 118 off 140 balls in the second essay to finish with a match aggregate of 252 runs. KL Rahul (42 & 137) finished the match with a total of 179 runs.

Pant scored over 200 runs in the 2022 Test in Birmingham as well. He followed up his 146 in the first innings with 57 in the second innings to finish with a match aggregate of 203 runs. Jadeja (104 & 23) contributed a total of 127 runs.

---

#3 England chased down 370+ in the fourth innings

Despite conceding 400-plus in the first innings in both Tests, England ended up chasing a total of 370+ in both the matches and did so in rather comprehensive fashion. In Leeds, they were set a target of 371 and chased it down in 82 overs. In Birmingham, they chased 378 in 76.4 overs.

Incredibly, Birmingham 2022 and Leeds 2025 are the top two successful chases in England's Test history. The iconic chase of 359 against Australia in the 2019 Ashes Test in Headingley completes the top three.

---

#4 Jasprit Bumrah claimed 5 wickets

Team India's lead pacer Bumrah ended up claiming the same number of wickets in both Test matches. The right-arm fast bowler was the standout performer with the ball in the first innings in Leeds, registering figures of 5-83 in 24.4 overs. He picked up the first three wickets to fall and then returned to claim the last two. Bumrah, however, went wicketless in the second innings, finishing with 0-57 from 19 overs.

Leading the team, Bumrah picked up five wickets in the 2022 Birmingham Test as well. He registered figures of 3-68 in the first innings, again picking up the first three wickets to fall. The right-arm pacer followed it up with figures of 2-74 from 17 overs in the second innings.

---

#5 Near-identical bowling attack for India

While Stokes and Root were the only common links in England's bowling attack in the two Tests, India went in with a near-identical bowling attack in both matches. Bumrah, Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur were part of India's bowling attack in Leeds 2025 and Birmingham 2022.

The only difference in India's bowling attack was that Mohammad Shami played the Birmingham Test, while Prasidh Krishna was part of the Leeds game. Had Shami been fit for the ongoing tour, India would most probably have had the same bowling line-up for the Leeds Test as they had for the 2022 Birmingham encounter.