“The fact is it’s so hot” - Alastair Cook slams Ben Stokes for bowling first vs India

Former England captain and commentator Alastair Cook has slammed Ben Stokes for his decision to bowl first against India in the ongoing first Test at Headingley, Leeds on Friday, June 20.

Notably, on a hot and sunny morning, Stokes decided to bowl first while the former cricketers wanted him to bat first as that was England’s biggest strength compared to their bowling. Interestingly, India is in the driver’s seat after the end of Day 1.

“The fact is it’s so hot… If you bowl first and don’t bowl them out, you’re bowling all day. England are guaranteed to bowl all day, and probably a bit tomorrow, looking at the conditions, unless India don’t bat as well as they’ve started. Therefore, you’re backing up. Say India bat 120 overs. They only have to bowl for two sessions (on day two). You feel like you can control the game more if you bat first,” said Cook to the BBC’s Test Match Special.

Batting first, India posted a daunting total of 359/3 in 85 overs on Day 1. Indian opening batter Yashasvi Jaiswal smacked 101 runs in 159 balls with 16 fours and a six, while skipper Shubman Gill was the star of the show, scoring 127* runs in 175 balls with 16 fours and a six.

On the other hand, Rishabh Pant scored 65* runs in 102 balls with six fours and two sixes. Meanwhile, KL Rahul could score 42 runs in 78 balls with eight fours while Sai Sudharsan bagged a four-ball duck on his Test debut.

After winning the toss, Stokes elected to field first and said, “We’ll bowl. Headingley is a very good cricket wicket. We’ve had some really good games here. Want to try and use the early conditions. Been a long time coming, bit strange that this is just the second series but we’re ready. It’s been mixed, some lads have played county cricket, we’ve had three days of really good cricket. Usual suspects in the top seven, Woakes, Brydon, Bashir, Tongue and myself make up the bowling.”

India skipper Gill said, “We would’ve bowled first as well, might be a bit tough in the first session but it should be good to bat on later. Sun is out, should be a good batting deck for us. Preparation has been amazing, we played a practice game in Beckenham, lads are feeling great. Sai makes his debut, Karun comes in. Sai will bat at three.”

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