"Ravindra Jadeja, bowling and batting, hasn't really lived up to it" - Aakash Chopra criticizes India's bowling in ENG vs IND 2025 1st Test

Former India player Aakash Chopra has criticized the Indian team's bowling in the first Test against England. He noted that the visitors' bowling was found wanting when Jasprit Bumrah was not among the wickets, highlighting that a lot more was expected from Ravindra Jadeja and the other bowlers.

England beat India by five wickets in the first Test in Leeds on Tuesday, June 24. With Bumrah going wicketless, the hosts chased down a 371-run target with relative ease in just 82 overs.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener picked the visitors' ineffective bowling as one of the reasons for their defeat, noting that Jadeja didn't live up to expectations with both bat and ball.

"You will understand it in two parts. One is Bumrah, who is doing incredibly well and picks up a lot of wickets, but what happens when he doesn't take wickets? You expect Ravindra Jadeja to do a little more on the fifth day. There will be a bit more bite, turn, and wickets. Something would happen, but it didn't happen. Ravindra Jadeja, bowling and batting, hasn't really lived up to it," he said.

Chopra added that Shardul Thakur didn't contribute with the bat either and was fortunate to pick up two wickets in England's second innings.

"Shardul Thakur picked up two wickets for sure, but when you look at those wickets, you say they were lucky wickets. The problem is that Shardul Thakur was playing, but was he playing? Hardly batted, you can count those two wickets if you wish, but he bowled a limited number of overs and was very expensive in whatever he bowled," he observed.

Aakash Chopra termed Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj half a bowler each, highlighting that the latter was expected to contribute more. He added that it couldn't have worked out with two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half bowlers.

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"The rest of the attack looked extremely ordinary" - Aakash Chopra on Jasprit Bumrah's potential absence during ENG vs IND 2025 Tests

Jasprit Bumrah picked up five wickets in England's first innings. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that the England batters were looking to play out Jasprit Bumrah and wondered how the Indian attack would fare in the ace seamer's absence.

"I feel slightly scared the more I talk about it. If this is our bowling attack with Bumrah, the opposing team then starts respecting and playing out Bumrah, that they would play Bazball against someone else and tire him and take him out of the attack, Jassi being there is great, but what would happen if he isn't there, as the rest of the attack looked extremely ordinary," he said.

While observing that India are overreliant on Bumrah, the cricketer-turned-commentator added that the visitors played the first Test virtually one or two players short.

"The bowling is too reliant on Bumrah. I don't see much scope for improvement in this setup. The truth is that it seemed like we played this match with nine or 10 players," Chopra observed.

While Mohammed Siraj picked up only two wickets across England's two innings, Prasidh Krishna accounted for five dismissals but conceded more than six runs per over in both innings. Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur managed three wickets between them in the second innings, but didn't look too threatening.