Archive June 20, 2025

Headingley, Day One of the First Rothesay Test

India 359-3: Gill 127*, Jaiswal 101, Pant 65*, Stokes 2-43

England has yet to bat.

The toss was won by England.

As England struggled after winning the toss on the opening day of the first Test, Shubman Gill made his century debut as India’s captain, and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal added a sparkling ton of his own.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s retirement, along with other world leaders, established India’s belief that their future batting is secure while simultaneously demonstrating England’s ability to defeat them in this five-test series.

On a slick, oppressive day at Headingley, the tourists increased their lead to 359-3. Gill elegantly stroked his way to 127 not out after Jaiswal, the 23-year-old opener who destroyed England in India 18 months ago, crunched 101.

Rishabh Pant and Gill are currently working together for 138 dollars, with Pant looking ominously poised at 65 not out.

The decision of Ben Stokes will be debated. Gill claimed he would have fielded first despite the heat and pitch that provided no clear encouragement to the bowlers.

And England were ultimately below par with the ball with their choice, failing to make the most of the opportunities that were presented throughout the day. The pick was Stokes himself, who bowled quickly for a score of 2-43.

Since Stokes took over as England’s captain in 2009, England have only batted first once in home tests. The team that bowled first won the previous six Tests at Headingley.

Even though the logic around the surface, overhead conditions, and quick outfield suggested Friday was a batting day, it is a luxury to evaluate Stokes’ decision in hindsight and it may turn out to be the correct one.

The England attack was another factor that needed to be taken into account. Chris Woakes returned from an ankle injury to bowl little, and neither Josh Tongue nor Brydon Carse have ever played in a top-notch game at Headingley. With England’s backing, they could have bowled more successfully.

To ignore India’s young batters, who were fantastic, would do them a disservice.

Despite having Kohli as one of the superstars, neither he nor Rohit were ever a part of an Indian team’s Test series success.

When these teams met in India at the beginning of 2024, Jaiswal simply picked up where he left off by plundering 712 runs. England restricted his options for scoring with drives and cuts, which he did too frequently.

A Carse blow to the ribs, which England did not explore frequently enough, caused him discomfort on November 19. As he approached three figures, Jaiswal also experienced pain in his right hand.

A slam dunk into the opposition saw the left-hander score five Test hundred and built on his impressive run in his first starts for England, Australia, and West Indies. In Headingley, an Asian opener scored their first Test century, and Jaiswal has the most runs of any Indian opener with 20 Tests remaining.

When Stokes hurried one into Jaiswal’s off stump, a stand of 129 with Gill came to an end. By this point, Gill was familiar with his off-side drives, pulls, and touches left and right.

The 25-year-old captain had a chance to score one, but Ollie Pope’s throw at the non-striker’s end went unpunched. After Pant refused a single to Stokes midway through the game, Gill had to make up his mind on 97.

England would have to bowl the match at some point, better than they did on Friday, regardless of the toss decision. The anticipation over Jofra Archer’s potential return will only increase when he plays for Sussex on Sunday, despite Mark Wood’s and Gus Atkinson’s injuries.

England did at least advance early, acknowledging the necessity of a bowl full at Headingley, but that gave Jaiswal and KL Rahul the chance to score a 91 on the opening stand.

India were 92-2 at lunch and the scores were even when Rahul edged a drive to Joe Root at first slip and then Sai Sudharsan’s debutant was caught by Sai Sudharsan down the leg side. The best thing it could have done for England was that.

Only Stokes, who was incredibly fit throughout the afternoon and evening, was a threat. Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir was tinkered by the visitors as England switched the pacers from one end.

Pant skipped and belted Stokes straight for four before making his announcement. He resisted one swift blow off Bashir for six while he restrained his aggressive instincts to support Gill.

After all the hard work I put in, I just wanted to join and do something for my team, my country, and myself. I adored it.

Tim Southee, England’s bowling coach, said in the opening Test Match Special: “It was a difficult day, but we will get our opportunity to bat soon. Tomorrow, we’ll try to make some progress.

“Jaiswal and Pant both had excellent knocks,” Pant said. Many guys also contributed to those knocks.

Test Match Special: “It’s India’s day,” says England’s bowler Mark Wood. As the day progressed, the pitch improved, and India’s batters displayed class.

Gareth Bale, a former Wales and Real Madrid player, was a part of a May bid to purchase Cardiff City, his hometown club.

The 35-year-old former Wales captain, who left the sport in January 2023, is thought to have been a part of a group that made a proposal to acquire a controlling stake in the League One side with Bluebirds owner Vincent Tan in writing.

The Malaysian businessman is believed to be having little interest in selling at the moment, but the group is now assuming that it will try again.

The reports about a bid for the newly relegated club from the Championship have surfaced late on Friday afternoon, but Cardiff are not commenting.

The proposal, it is understood, did not advance to the discussion board.

Bale, who won the Champions League five times with Real Madrid, had been linked with a move to Cardiff as a player before making the decision to join Major League Soccer (MLS) side Los Angeles FC.

Jack Draper fulfilled a childhood dream by reaching his first Queen’s semi-final with a testing three-set victory over American Brandon Nakashima.

The 6-4 5-7 6-4 win guarantees Draper will be a top-four seed in next week’s Wimbledon draw and would therefore not be able to meet world number one Jannik Sinner or defending champion Carlos Alcaraz until the semi-final stage.

Draper, who came through a tough three-setter against Alexei Popyrin in the previous round when he was feeling unwell, found himself in another energy-sapping encounter against Nakashima on a hot day in west London.

Having taken charge of the first set with an early break, the errors crept into Draper’s game and Nakashima raised his level to take the second set and force the absorbing encounter into a decider.

Draper made the key breakthrough in the seventh game of the third set, converting his second break point with a powerful forehand and he then served out victory to set up a semi-final against Czech Jiri Lehecka, who had earlier beaten British number two Jacob Fearnley 7-5 6-2.

“It means the world to me. The support I have received this week has been amazing,” Draper, 23, said. “It’s something I’ve wanted since I was a little kid.”

Draper is bidding to become the first British singles champion at Queen’s since five-time winner Andy Murray’s most recent victory in 2016.

He could be on course to meet top seed Carlos Alcaraz in the final after the world number two beat France’s Arthur Rinderknech 7-5 6-4.

Draper had got off to the perfect start against Nakashima with an early break but the rest of his day was far from straightforward.

But, as he has increasingly been showing in a year that has taken him to a career-high fourth in the world, he manages to bring out his best tennis in the most difficult moments.

From the second-serve ace that warded off a break to a brave drop shot at 15-40, Draper showed he is not afraid to take risks and this confident approach is paying off here.

Having lost the second set to world number 32 Nakashima when he sent a forehand long, Draper tightened up on his errors in the third and broke serve in the seventh game with one of the stunning forehand winners that have become a hallmark of his game.

He had thought he had sealed the game on the previous point with a backhand but the automatic line call of “out” had been drowned out by the crowd’s cheers.

He had to save a break point while serving for the match at 5-4 but recovered to seal victory after two hours and 22 minutes, delivering a 14th ace during that final game.

“I think at times I’ve not played some great tennis and in those moments I’ve just tried to believe in myself and I think that is where the confidence has come from,” Draper said after reaching a 12th Tour-level semi-final and his fourth of the year.

“Hopefully, I can carry on to the next round and get better.”

He will now play only his second last-four match on home soil after reaching the semi-finals at Eastbourne in 2022.

His progress here will help his preparations for Wimbledon, which starts on 30 June, and the top-four seeding is a bonus for him going into the grass-court Grand Slam where he will be viewed as the great home hope.

“Last year I went there [to Wimbledon] ranked 40th and now I’m fourth. To get to that position is an incredible feeling,” he said. “It is testament to the work me and my team have done and I am proud of that.”

Alcaraz was back on court less than 24 hours after coming through an epic last-16 encounter with compatriot Jaume Munar that was the longest match at Queen’s in 34 years, lasting three hours and 26 minutes.

The impact of that initially showed as he found himself going toe-to-toe with Rinderknech in a close first set.

Frenchman Rinderknech had gone out in qualifying but returned as a lucky loser and upset American Ben Shelton in his first match.

He certainly played with a nothing-to-lose attitude, serving particularly well, but Alcaraz got the break at 5-5 before coming through his serve to take the first set.

From then on it was clear Alcaraz had no desire to be on the court for much longer, earning the break in the fifth game of the second set with a brilliant forehand winner down the line before seeing out the rest of the match to extend his winning streak to 16 matches.

“I am feeling great playing on grass,” said Alcaraz, who is hoping for another Queen’s title to add to his 2023 victory before embarking on his bid for a third successive Wimbledon title.

Fearnley had been playing in his first last-eight match of an ATP Tour event after producing a brilliant display against French qualifier Corentin Moutet on Thursday.

But Czech world number 30 Lehecka proved too much for the 23-year-old.

Things had looked promising for Fearnley after he got the first break of the match but the world number 60 gave it up immediately following three double faults.

More mistakes on serve proved costly again as Lehecka got the double break to lead 6-5 before serving out the set.