Former England captain Michael Vaughan expressed astonishment at England’s decision to bowl first against India on a dry Headingley wicket in the first Test, as India dominated day one by reaching 359 for 3, with Shubman Gill scoring an unbeaten 127 and Yashasvi Jaiswal contributing 101.England captain Ben Stokes opted to field first despite hot and humid conditions offering minimal assistance to bowlers on the dry surface.Since Stokes took over as captain in 2022 with Brendon McCullum as coach, England has consistently chosen to field first in Test matches.
The decision may have been influenced by recent history at Headingley, where teams bowling first have won the last six Test matches.“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 clearly had a gut feeling, and sometimes it has worked.”Quiz: Who’s that IPL player?Vaughan emphasized that current conditions should determine decision-making rather than historical precedents.“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.Vaughan acknowledged the challenge of containing runs on a good batting surface but noted Stokes remains optimistic.“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 said.Vaughan reserved final judgment on the pitch conditions until seeing Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah bowl.“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 added.