Michael Vaughan Criticizes Ben Stokes' Bowling Decision In ENG vs IND Test

The five-match Test series between India and England has begun with a bang at Leeds. Winning the toss, England's skipper Ben Stokes opted to bowl first and invited India's new Test captain Shubman Gill & Co. to bat first. The decision of Stoke's bowling first in the Test didn't seem to be in their favor, as the visitors put up a huge score of 359-3 on Day 1, with both Yashasvi Jaiswal and captain Gill smashing tremendous centuries each.

It was a tricky decision at the time of the toss, but as recent records stated that the bowling team got a favor at first, the same was executed by the English captain. But the weather and conditions at the venue on the given day included clear skies and a good batting from Indians, who dominated the English side. If we take a look at England's frontline pace attack, along with captain Ben Stokes, they failed to make any impression with their spells in front of Indian batters, and they easily smashed boundaries one after another, putting up a giant score. This is the first time since 2007 that the Indians were able to post up a score of 300 runs on the board on the opening day of a tour.

To this performance of the England team, former England captain Michael Vaughan slammed Ben Stokes decision to bowl first after winning the toss. Vaughan had an experience playing at this venue for both Yorkshire and England and felt that since the sun was out, it was stupid to take such a decision in such dry conditions.

He said,

"I'm an old-school traditionalist here at Leeds: when the sun is shining, with dry weather, you bat. I was staggered when he said he was going to bowl. Traditions are out the window. You look at the England side, and their strength is in the batting. There is inexperience in the bowling at the moment, but Ben clearly had a gut feeling, and sometimes that has worked."

In 2016 the team batting first won a Test match at Headingley when England posted up a score of 298, making Sri Lanka out for 91 and 119 in the first and second innings, respectively, making a dominant win to their name.