Having won the second Test against England at Lord’s, Team India were expected to dominate the third Test at Headingley but the visitors endured a nightmare with the bat on the opening day.
India skipper Virat Kohli’s decision to bat first turned out to be a disastrous one as veteran England pacer James Anderson ran through the top-order to reduce the tourists to 21/3.
Anderson dismissed KL Rahul (0), Cheteshwar Pujara (1) and Kohli (7) on a single-digit score. The duo of Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane tried to steady the ship by adding 35 runs for the fourth wicket but Ollie Robinson broke the partnership at the stroke of Lunch, dismissing the Indian vice-captain on 18.
India’s abysmal batting display continued in the post-lunch session as well. Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant was removed by Robinson on 2 while Craig Overton ended Rohit’s vigil on 105-ball 19 as the visitors slipped further to 67/6.
Left-arm seamer Sam Curran got rid of Ravindra Jadeja (4) and Jasprit Bumrah (0) whereas Overton sent back Mohammad Shami (0) and Mohammed Siraj (3) to wrap India’s innings for a paltry 78 in 40.4 overs.
Cricket experts were left astonished by the England fast bowlers’ dominance while they were also critical of Indian batsmen’s shambolic display.
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