Team India's transition era has begun on a sour note, with the young side, captained by Shubman Gill, losing the first Test against England by five wickets at Headingley, Leeds. The five-match series began with a 1-0 advantage for Ben Stokes and company after the home side scored 371 in the last innings and mounted a mountain. The discussion revolved around how the batting order would perform after Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma quit their careers, leaving behind their two most seasoned professionals. But on the last day, when Ravindra Jadeja was unable to get much assistance from the pitch, India may have missed the services of a quality frontline spinner like Ravichandran Ashwin more than RoKo.

The main factor in England's successful pursuit of 371 runs in the last innings was Jadeja's subpar performance with the ball and the inconsistent pace attack. In the last session of the Test, the left-arm spinner finally found his rhythm, but the horse had long since bolted. In addition, this is the first time that a team with five centurions has lost the Test.

The only fighter in the first innings, Jasprit Bumrah (fifer in the first innings), had an unusual bad day at the workplace, and others, such as Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna, were unable to fill the void. It is already known that Bumrah will not be playing all five tests, so their inconsistency and inability to consistently take wickets now presents a major problem for the team administration.

It's likely that Bumrah will only participate in two more games in this series. Although the leadership has Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, and Arshdeep Singh on the bench, can a bowling attack without Bumrah take 20 wickets against England?

On Day 5, England were in front for the majority of the game as the opening batsmen Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett scored 188 runs for the first wicket, giving them a lead in the demanding chase. When Crawley and Duckett were performing well, there were worries that India might suffer a ten-wicket thrashing.

But, similar to the previous four days, India made a comeback in the second session of the last day, and the pendulum swung again. It all began when Prasidh Krishna quickly took the wickets of Crawley (65) and Ollie Pope (0). Nevertheless, India was still facing the gun as Duckett continued to perform well.

After only bowling six overs in the first innings, Shardul Thakur once again lived up to his "Lord" nickname by taking the wickets of Duckett (149) and Harry Brook (0) on back-to-back deliveries. The pressure unexpectedly fell on England, and both outcomes were conceivable.

On the last day, rain once more ruined the party. The umpires chose to call for early Tea since the players had to go off during the second session. The goal was straightforward for both teams: India needed to take six wickets, while England needed to score 102 more runs in order to take a 1-0 lead.

The Test's last session got off to a good start as Ben Stokes and Joe Root maintained their chipping away. Ben Stokes, though, went for a reverse sweep off Ravindra Jadeja's delivery, but he lost his wicket against the flow of the game. The England captain was eventually out for 33 off 51 deliveries.

But during the third and last session, Joe Root demonstrated that he excels in high-stakes games. With five wickets in hand, he brought England across the finish line. On 53 and 44 respectively, Jamie Smith and Root remained undefeated.

India's lower-order collapse 

Despite the focus on India's bowling attack and how they allowed Crawley and Duckett to score at will in the last innings, one must remember India's two lower-order collapses.

India were dominating the first innings with a score of 430/3, and they were on the verge of winning the game by scoring 550–600 runs. But, much like on numerous prior occasions, India's lower order collapsed like a house of cards, and the team lost its final seven wickets for 41 runs.

With a lead of 339 runs, India was once more in a good position in the second innings at 333/4. The hosts appeared poised to pursue a target of over 450 runs, and England's shoulders were drooping. However, in a manner similar to the first innings, India's tail seemed to be nonexistent, and the last six wickets fell for only 31 runs, leaving England with a target of 471 runs.

India's fielding was lacking as well, as the team missed seven opportunities throughout the game. Yashasvi Jaiswal put down four of these seven. The whole series of events just placed his entire Test as a fielder in perspective when Jaiswal dismissed Duckett in the second innings off Mohammed Siraj's bowling.

When fielding in the slips during the first innings, Jaiswal missed three opportunities. He was then placed in the deep for the second innings, but he also missed a sitter there.

In terms of India's batting, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and KL Rahul all had a good day. The anxieties of "without Rohit and Virat" were put to rest when Jaiswal, Gill, and Pant all hit centuries in the first innings.

Pant continued where he left off in the first innings by hitting another century in the second innings, making him only the second wicketkeeper-batter in Test history to accomplish the feat of scoring two centuries. KL Rahul gave the southpaw excellent support, scoring his first Test hundred in nearly 18 months.

However, the top order's diligent effort in both innings was negated by the poor performance of the lower-middle order. In his debut appearance, Sai Sudharsan scored only 30 runs during the game. In the first innings, he was let go for a duck. Both times during the Test, Sai Sudharsan was caught by England captain Ben Stokes in a leg-side trap.

Karun Nair, who had scores of 0 and 20 in Leeds and was making a comeback to the Test playing XI after eight years, was a bit of a letdown. India's 1-0 defeat in the series was mostly caused by the lower-order collapse, along with some toothless bowling and dreadful fielding.

Read Also: Duckett Hits Century, Root Holds Nerve as England Beat India by Five Wickets

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