As Joe Root and Ben Stokes moved closer to England to the 371-run target on Day 5 of the opening Test at Headingley in Leeds, a sense of anger, frustration, and a touch of negativity began to permeate among Indian cricketers. After the all-rounder's lackluster performance in the field leaked three runs in the final session on Tuesday, Ravindra Jadeja, who was in the middle of a great over and almost got Root out twice off consecutive balls, was furious with Shardul Thakur.

With a beauty of a delivery in the previous ball that had beat Root's outside edge and almost caught him LBW before that, Jadeja enticed the drive by throwing one up to the former England captain in the fourth ball of the 62nd over. Root was up for it and drove toward mid on, where Shardul Thakur overran the ball and fell. Shardul took his own sweet time to get up and pick up the ball, which should have been a couple at best but ended up being three runs.

Jadeja, who was enraged by this, yelled at Shardul and berated him for his pathetic attempt. Shardul responded by saying he fell, but Root and Stokes were able to capitalize on the circumstance by stealing an additional run. Jadeja stormed back to his spot.

As a greater effort from all fielders was desirable in that circumstance, Jadeja's response was on the expected lines since he sets high standards for the position. In this Test match, India's performance on the field has been subpar. In addition to two innings, opening batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal has alone dropped four catches. Ben Duckett was also dropped by Jadeja in the first innings.

In the second innings, Duckett was once again dismissed when he was at 98. In a stunning example of stroke play, the southpaw later scored 149 runs on 170 balls.

England's openers set the tone with a disciplined but daring partnership, resuming on the 21st without losing any momentum. Duckett played with his trademark flair, but Crawley's half-century took 111 balls to complete, making it his slowest Test match. On 97, the left-hander experienced a significant scare when Duckett scored his sixth Test century after Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped a top-edged pull off Mohammed Siraj. He then proceeded to hit a beautiful 149, complete with slices, drives, and a daring reverse-swept six off Ravindra Jadeja.

Even though there was a brief pause in the game due to a light drizzle, the England openers managed to withstand the assault from India's frontline bowlers, notably Jasprit Bumrah and Siraj, throughout the morning and early afternoon.

Following the hiatus, Prasidh Krishna struck twice.

Thanks to the inexperienced Prasidh Krishna, the breakthrough ultimately occurred after a brief rain delay. Krishna's calmness and precision were on display as he dismissed the well-set Crawley for 65 in only his fourth Test. Crawley edged a fuller delivery to KL Rahul at first slip, breaking the deadlock that India really needed. The dismissal came just one ball after Crawley was pulled for four.

Then, for only 8 runs, Krishna sent Ollie Pope a peach of a delivery that nipped back quickly to beat the bat. His two blows shook England, bringing them from a commanding 188-0 lead to 206-2 at teatime. Krishna's stats at that point were a respectable 2-69 from 11 overs.

Thakur Extends His Lead

After that, Shardul Thakur struck a crucial double blow that changed the game's trajectory. Initially, he took out Duckett, who had been the star of the day, when he was caught at short extra cover by Nitish Kumar Reddy, a backup fielder. After a number of missed opportunities, Reddy's amazing catch brought a sigh of relief to the Indian squad.

On the very next delivery, Thakur dismissed Harry Brook, who hit a leg-side delivery to Rishabh Pant. In the first innings, Brook was out for 99, but this time he was out for a golden duck. Despite the fact that Ben Stokes was able to escape the hat-trick delivery, England's once-commanding position had suddenly become precarious, with their score now at 253-4.

Read Also: India's Bench Strength Tested as Ben Duckett Leads England to 5-Wicket Win

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