Former England captain Michael Vaughan was surprised by Ben Stokes’ decision to bowl first against India on Saturday at Headingley. Vaughan thought on a sunny, dry pitch it would have been an easy call to bat first. He felt Stokes was looking at numbers and past performances rather than the conditions, which goes against tradition.
At the toss Stokes said he wanted to get a foothold early, while Indian captain Shubman Gill said he would have bowled first. But after some early movement the pitch settled and the batsmen took full advantage. Gill finished the day not out on 127, Rishabh Pant 65, after Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul got good starts. By the end of the day India were 359/3.
“I’m a traditionalist here at Leeds—when the sun’s out it’s usually an easy decision,” Vaughan said on BBC’s Test Match Special. “I was shocked he was going to bowl first; it felt like tradition was being thrown out the window.”
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He also pointed out just because England have chased well in the past doesn’t mean those results should influence today’s decisions. “They let India play freely with a younger batting line up and a new captain,” he added. Vaughan said Stokes’ gut feeling didn’t come off this time.
“England’s strength is in their batting,” he noted. “Ben had a hunch and it’s worked for him before.” In the end England could only take two wickets from Stokes and one from Brydon Carse, mostly due to Indian mistakes. Bowling consultant Tim Southee backed the decision saying there was a bit of moisture in the pitch they wanted to take advantage of.
