"England are guaranteed to bowl all day" - Former captain slams Ben Stokes' decision to bowl first in ENG vs IND 2025 1st Test 

Former England captain Alastair Cook questioned Ben Stokes' decision to bowl first after winning the toss in the first Test against India at Headingley, Leeds, on Friday, June 20. The hosts had no hesitation in inviting the Men in Blue to bat first, even though it was a sunny day with only marginal cloud cover.

With no overcast conditions to help their new-ball case, the second-string English bowling unit struggled against KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal up front. Brydon Carse was able to get the ball to swing, but hardly troubled the Indian opening pair, who went on to post a 91-run partnership, almost playing out the entire session.

Bowling first has proven to be beneficial as far as the venue's recent record is concerned. Across the Test matches held there since 2017, all of them have been won by the team batting last.

Alastair Cook opined that opting to bowl in such conditions could prove to be detrimental for Stokes and the England bowlers as India look to bat long to post a mammoth first-innings total.

“The fact it’s so hot… If you bowl first and don’t bowl them out, you’re bowling all day. England are guaranteed to bowl all day, and probably a bit tomorrow, looking at the conditions, unless India don’t bat as well as they’ve started. Therefore, you’re backing up. Say India bat 120 overs. They only have to bowl for two sessions (on day two). You feel like you can control the game more if you bat first,” Cook said on BBC’s Test Match Special (via the Indian Express).

England had to toil hard in the first session with minimal assistance from the pitch as well as an overwhelming lack of consistent swing. They struck twice right before the Lunch break to take something away from the first session, but are lagging in the second session of the day.

"Headingley's generally a very good cricket wicket" - England captain Ben Stokes

The last time England put India into bat first at Leeds, they skittled them out for 78. However, on that occasion, the hosts had the luxury of heavy overcast conditions and a much spicier pitch.

In this instance, the visitors have managed to make the most of the optimum batting conditions on offer, and are on the lookout to convert it into something monumental.

"We're going to have a bowl. Headingley's generally a gery good cricket wicket. We've got some great games over the years (here). Hopefully, we can use the early conditions and get the best out of it," Stokes said at the toss.

At the time of writing, Team India are cruising at 158-2 after 38 overs. All four England pacers have had to pull a serious shift already, with Stokes bowling six overs as well.