"India still have a sneaky chance in the morning to pick 4-5 quick wickets" - Michael Vaughan on India's chances in third Test

Former England batsman Michael Vaughan outlined how India potentially have the chance to stake their claim in the third Test match. England currently lead the visitors by 42 runs in the first innings and have all their 10 wickets in hand.

After electing to bat first, India failed to see out the challenging opening hour and were bowled out for just 78. By the time England came into bat in the second session, the conditions had easened up and the pitch was more flat as well, making for near-perfect batting conditions.

Half-centuries for both of our openers! 👏Scorecard/Clips: https://t.co/UakxjzUrcE@IGCom | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 #ENGvIND 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/M78kznhb63

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 25, 2021

Michael Vaughan claims India will rue not seeing off the opening hour of play and will now have to go hard in the first session of Day 2 to have any hope of remaining in the game.

While speaking to Cricbuzz, he said:

"When England went out to bat, there was no swing and that pitch was flat. It'll do some on Day 2, so India have a sneaky chance in the morning that the ball might move around again and they might be able to get four or five quick wickets, it's still on because funny things happen at this Test match venue."

It is about setting the tone: Michael Vaughan

The former England captain was puzzled over the decision to give Ishant Sharma the first over of the innings when they had bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami at their disposal. Sharma started the innings off with a series of extras and gave away 8 runs off the over. Vaughan added:

"It is about setting the tone. Like Jimmy Anderson, you know, he's going to set the tone. I think in Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami, India have got two bowlers that you pretty much know 80 percent of the time, they're going to set the tone, so why one of them didn't bowl that first over when you've only got 78 to play with."

Vaughan added that Ishant Sharma's first over relaxed the entire crowd at Headingley, Leeds. The England openers did not turn back from there. Vaughan said:

"And you've got Ishant Sharma and you almost felt in the ground- no ball, no ball, wide, 8 off the first over. It almost relaxed the whole stadium."

An outstanding day 👊Scorecard/Clips: https://t.co/SUkSvXAmRr🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 #ENGvIND 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/wrGTVF9DYh

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 25, 2021

The Indian seamers put in 37 overs on the first day but failed to find a breakthrough as Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed put on a commanding partnership for the opening wicket.