“England should probably have lost this game” - Stuart Broad’s stunning claim after ENG vs IND 2025 1st Test

Retired England cricketer Stuart Broad believes Ben Stokes and Co. should have ideally lost the first Test to Team India at Headingley in Leeds, given the stiff 371-run target at hand. While Broad praised Duckett for the way he approached the innings, he observed that the tourists let several opportunities to win the game slip away.

Coming into day five, the home side still needed 350 more runs to win the Test after finishing day four at 21/0 in six overs. Duckett and Zak Crawley set the tone with a massive 188-run opening stand. Although the Englishmen stuttered after the huge opening partnership, including losing the likes of Ollie Pope and Harry Brook cheaply, Joe Root and Jamie Smith guided their side over the line with five wickets to spare.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the Test, the 39-year-old said he was surprised to see Stokes and co. go about their job so calmly on a day five surface. He stated:

"There will be a lot of celebrations but England will have had belief all day, they would never have had any doubts. It was a sensational run chase and Duckett was outstanding with his 149. It is incredible how this team keep doing this. They needed 371 on a day-five pitch but did it calmly. There was a huge amount of skill on show England should probably have lost this game - India had so many chances to put it to bed but England scrapped and fought."

The home side's lower order also showed excellent resilience in their first innings, whittling down India's lead to six runs despite the latter's total of 471. The likes of Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse produced useful runs to frustrate the tourists. By contrast, Team India's tail folded like a pack of cards in both innings.

"At no point today, when England were batting, did you feel India were in the game" - Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik. (Image Credits: Getty)

Ex-Indian keeper-batter Dinesh Karthik reckoned India will be hurting, and the learnings will be that of not giving an opposition even a sniff. Karthik stated:

"India will be pensive. They were well ahead for the majority of the game, in the driving seat, scoring five individual hundreds across two innings. But at no point today when England were batting did you feel India were in the game. There will be massive learnings. Make sure you grind opposition into the ground and don't give them a chance."

The two sides will resume their battle in the second Test in Birmingham, beginning on July 2.

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Edited by Vaishnavi Iyer