Shubman Gill led from the front in his debut Test as India’s red-ball cricket captain. He finished unbeaten at 127 off 175 balls, hitting 16 fours and one six. Meanwhile, vice-captain Rishabh Pant batted until Stumps, scoring 65 from 102 deliveries, including six fours and two sixes. KL Rahul, who impressed with his well-composed 42, bowed down in admiration of Pant’s blitzkriegs in the closing session of the day.
The Indian Cricket Team will be very happy with their batting performance on Day 1 of the five-match series against England on Friday, June 20, at Headingley in Leeds. After Ben Stokes won the toss and decided to field first, the Indians dominated, scoring 359 runs for the loss of three wickets. They handed England a taste of their own ‘Bazball’ medication, with a run rate of 4.22.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) released a video of India’s dressing room responses to their remarkable performance on Day 1.
After Gill and Rishabh Pant returned to the dressing room,
Rahul and Shardul Thakur were the first to congratulate them. Members of the support personnel, including head coach Gautam Gambhir, followed.
Watch the video here
𝗥𝗮𝘄 𝗘𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
Straight from the #TeamIndia Dressing Room after the end of an exciting Day 1 at Headingley#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/oj4kWMSbeW
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 20, 2025
Earlier in the day, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul led India to a strong start. They scored 91 runs in the first session, hitting some beautiful smashes. However, before lunch, India lost two quick wickets. Brydon Carse removed Rahul when the Karnataka-born batsman edged a wide delivery to Joe Root at first slip.
Sai Sudharsan, making his Test debut, was strangled on the leg-side. In his first appearance in red-ball internationals, he faced four balls and failed to score. Stokes dismissed him with the help of wicketkeeper Jamie Smith, who made a brilliant catch diving to his right.
However, India did not panic at this point, as Yashasvi and captain Gill combined to add 129 runs off 163 for the third wicket. The Southpaw batsman was eventually removed after hitting 101 off 159 balls. This was England’s final moment of delight on the day, as Gill and Pant annihilated the English bowling attack until Stumps, when the umpires called it a day with the scoreboard displaying 359 for the loss of just three wickets in a day utterly dominated by the visitors.
