25 Aug 2021

From the highs of Lord's, India surrendered to a new low at Headingley. Virat Kohli's men were bundled out for 78 after opting to bat on Day 1 of the 3rd Test against England in Leeds on Wednesday in an abject batting performance.

James Anderson jolted India early by picking up three wickets, including that of captain Virat Kohli (7), in the first hour as India were never able to recover from that setback. Rohit Sharma top-scored for India with 19 but none of the other batters applied themselves on a decent pitch at Headingley on a bright morning.

India's 78 was their third lowest total against England in Test cricket. It was also their 9th lowest total in the history of Test cricket.

India's lowest totals against England in Tests
42 in the 3rd innings in 1874 at Lord's
58 in the 2nd innings in 1952 in Manchester
78 in the 1st innings in 2021 in Leeds
This was also India's third lowest total in an innings on Day 1 of a Test match. They had registered 75 against West Indies in Delhi in 1987 and 76 vs South Africa in Ahmedabad in 2008 on Day 1 of those Test matches.

Notably, under Virat Kohli's captaincy, India have recorded two totals of less than 100. The first one came in Adelaide last year -- 36, their lowest-ever Test total.

Virat Kohl had won the toss for the first time in his captaincy career in a Test match in England but his decision to bat first backfired. India lost in-form opener KL Rahul as early as the first over for 0 after which Anderson struck to remove Cheteshwar Pujara for 4. He got the big wicket of Kohli as the India captain's struggles continues in international cricket.

Rohit hung in there but he was not able to make it big, considering he lost partners at regular intervals. Rishabh Pant's struggles continued while vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane managed 18. India lost their last 5 wickets for just 11 runs as the tail that wagged at Lord's was skittled out in Leeds.

While Anderson finished with figures of 3/6, Craig Overton, who was included as Mark Wood's replacement, finished with 3/17. Sam Curran and Ollie Robinson picked up 2 wickets each as India were bundled out in just 40.4 overs on Wednesday.