Michael Vaughan left shocked as Ben Stokes decided to bowl in the 1st Test of the ongoing series against India

Former captain Michael Vaughan is astonished by England’s decision to bowl first on a dry Headingley wicket, a decision that backfired as India finished at 359 for 3 on day one of the first Test here.

Vaughan said the current England team’s strength is definitely its batting department and not its bowling.

“I am an old school traditionalist. Here at Leeds, when the sun is shining, with dry weather, you bat,” Vaughan told BBC Test Match Special.

“You look at the England side and their strength is in the batting. And there is inexperience in the bowling at the moment. Ben (Stokes) clearly had a gut feeling, and sometimes it has worked,” he added.

Vaughan’s surprise stems from the fact that the conditions were hot and humid with the wicket offering hardly any assistance to the bowlers.

The decision backfired as skipper Shubman Gill (127 not out) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (101) made merry on a dry surface to power India to a commanding position.

Since Stokes became captain in 2022 with Brendon McCullum as coach, England have preferred to field first.

Stokes’ decision might also have been influenced by the recent record at this ground, with the side fielding first in the last six Tests going on to win the match, but Vaughan differs.

“You always have to pick your decisions on that moment, and not things that you did here years ago or at other times. It can’t affect what the decision is today,” he said.

“It was a good pitch, so it’s not easy to restrict runs. Ben Stokes is still positive and he will come back tomorrow saying ‘let’s get seven wickets’,” he added.

“We won’t know that for sure until we see Jasprit Bumrah bowl on it. He can bowl you out with anything. Until I see that, I will hold my judgement on how flat this pitch is,” he further added.

India’s playing XI for the first Test:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.

England’s playing XI for first Test:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jamie Smith(w), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.

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