“Never forget leg day.”
It’s one of those mantras that fitness trainers live by.
But for India at Old Trafford on Thursday, their leg day turned into something they’d rather forget.
All it took was a look at Shubman Gill’s face — it said everything.
In the 22nd over of England’s innings, Jasprit Bumrah finally looked like he had found his groove.
Three balls in the corridor of uncertainty, all delivered to Duckett, all full of menace. Two of them straightened off the seam and beat the outside edge. For the first time in ages, India seemed to be wrestling back control.
Slip fielders clapped as the over ended.
And then… silence.
Shardul Thakur took over next. Gill set him up with a 7-2 field — heavily stacked on the off-side — a field that screamed discipline and control.
But Thakur’s radar was off.
His second ball of the 23rd over drifted innocuously onto Zak Crawley’s pads, and was tickled away for four.
Seven men stood at attention on one side of the pitch, watching helplessly as the ball rolled away on the other.
Among them was the captain at first slip, arms now crossed.
That moment summed up something larger:
On Day 17 of the series, for the first time, India had started to drift. Literally.
Time and again, balls strayed down the leg-side, as if caught in an invisible current.
It wasn’t just Thakur. Even Bumrah — the epitome of accuracy — missed his lines early.
Duckett was treated like a guest of honour: he scored 33 off 30, including six boundaries — all on the leg-side. He might argue there should’ve been one through mid-off, if not for his partner’s lazy footwork.
In the 14 overs before Tea, England quietly erased 77 runs of the deficit, scoring at 5.5 an over — without ever trying to force the game.
Yes, It Was Tough To Bat — But That’s Not An Excuse
India might feel hard done.
In the morning, the ball swung at an average of 1.6 degrees — the most it had in the entire series.
Conditions were overcast and chilly.
The second new ball swung like a boomerang.
Jofra Archer in particular was lethal, bending the ball from beyond Washington Sundar’s eyeline and consistently beating the outside edge.
But that’s the nature of cricket’s cruel lottery.
India endured the morning — and then let the afternoon slip.
The sun came out just as the new ball was handed to Gill.
This one swung far less (1.1 degrees on average), but India went chasing for movement anyway.
And in doing so, their discipline fell apart.
Post-match, Thakur admitted:
“We were looking for the swing we saw in the morning. We hoped it would do the same for us — but it didn’t. That’s probably why a few drifted down leg.”
“It wasn’t that difficult for the bowlers. We just didn’t show enough patience to keep bowling in the right areas.”
One Bad Session — But A Reminder Of How Good India Usually Are
Oddly enough, this phase of looseness only emphasized how tight India’s bowling usually is.
What stood out wasn’t a barrage from England, but how little they needed to do.
Two of their most aggressive batters simply had to collect — not counterattack.
They nudged, they waited, and they slowly pushed India off their axis.
Bumrah’s spell before Tea, from the Brian Statham End, told its own story:
26.6% of his deliveries strayed to the leg-side — an uncharacteristic lapse.
After the break, he switched to the James Anderson End — and immediately corrected course.
Just 8% of his deliveries were down leg in the next two spells.
According to CricViz:
- 15% of Bumrah and Siraj’s deliveries on Day 2 were on the leg stump
- For Kamboj and Thakur, it was 11.2% and 13.3% respectively
For Captain Gill, A Leadership Learning Curve
Gill’s decision to pair debutant Anshul Kamboj with Bumrah up front may be questioned.
But it wasn’t entirely off-base.
It threw the youngster into the fire early, and split Bumrah and Siraj’s spells to spread experience.
Again, Gill chose control over combustion — just as he prefers finger spinners over wristies.
But more than tactics, what stood out was his absence.
With Karun Nair not playing, Gill was at first slip — not at mid-off or mid-on, where captains breathe life into the field.
From slip, he could only offer gestures.
And increasingly, those turned into shrugs.
He didn’t have his usual ally either — Rishabh Pant, often the wise voice slowing the game down, was off injured.
KL Rahul eventually took over late in the day, but the momentum had already tilted.
There were moments where Gill looked isolated at backward point, unsure of how to use Washington Sundar with the ball, or how to properly integrate Thakur.
This Wasn’t an English Onslaught — It Was an Indian Collapse of Control
This wasn’t like Rajkot last year — when Duckett’s blitz led England to 207/2 in 35 overs.
Then, Ashwin said he was okay with the risks England took, because it gave India opportunities the next day.
India struck back.
But this was different.
At Old Trafford, England didn’t need to take any risks to cut the deficit to 133.
It was quiet.
It was subtle.
It was a slow loss of control.
For three Tests, India outbowled England with the new ball.
Even in defeat, they found ways to fight.
But here, as the clouds parted and the errors piled up, India were undone not by England’s brilliance — but by their own looseness.
They’ll return on Day 3 with a ball that’s 46 overs old, still holding a lead worth defending.
But in Test cricket, worry lines don’t only appear on faces.
They start at the crease.
And then, they spread.
Go to the journey of wealth:
