- July 26, 2025
We’ve all heard gym bros chant “Never skip leg day” — but on Day 2 at Old Trafford, India’s bowling attack might’ve wished they had. It wasn’t a collapse, not a disaster, but something sneakier: a slow bleed. A leg-side leak. It’s the kind of day where nothing explodes, yet everything quietly unravels. And for a side that’s prided itself on precision, this lapse wasn’t just physical — it was mental, tactical, and oddly symbolic.
Let’s break down India’s unfortunate “leg day” and why it left fans scratching their heads and England smiling through tea.
When Control Turned into Chaos
In the second session, at one point in time, India had seven fielders on the off-side – it was a formation that had control and discipline plastered all over it. Then came a cheeky nudge off the pads from Zak Crawley — no power, just precision — and it slipped away to the boundary like it had dinner plans. Just like that, the façade was obliterated. Shardul Thakur, having been asked to follow a fiery Bumrah over, lost his radar. The rest followed.
It was the same for Bumrah – the invariably accurate enforcer – who looked almost human again. His spell before tea had just under 27% of the deliveries ending up well down leg – not exactly the standard of his superb accuracy. Duckett and Crawley weren’t going for anything outrageous — just picking off runs with the ease of a Sunday stroll, casual and unbothered. That was the bit that hurt. This wasn’t England being brilliant, this was India being… a little wayward.
Gill’s Growing Pains as Captain
This was Shubman Gill’s real test in the big chair — and while his intent to control the game was clear, execution fell short. Starting with debutant Anshul Kamboj wasn’t a terrible idea tactically, but with Bumrah slightly off, Siraj sidelined early, and Thakur misfiring, the gamble backfired.
Gill, stationed at first slip instead of the typical mid-off/mid-on role, looked distant — quite literally — from the action. His body language said a lot. There were shrugs. There were helpless glances. KL Rahul stepped in later, but by then, the lines were blurred, and England had eaten away a huge chunk of the deficit.
Gill’s leadership style is calm, thoughtful — but on a day like this, perhaps it needed more spark, more mid-pitch chatter, more urgency.
A Swing and a Miss
India might feel hard done by. The ball swung more when they batted — 1.6 degrees versus just 1.1 degrees later — and the overcast morning didn’t help. But cricket doesn’t care about fairness. By the time the sun came out and the new ball arrived, India’s lines loosened in the chase for something that just wasn’t there.
Even Bumrah, who corrected course post-tea from the other end, showed that it wasn’t impossible — just hard. But this is what separates great attacks from good ones: the ability to adapt before damage is done. Thakur admitted after the day that they were chasing swing rather than bowling with patience. That’s honest. And telling.
Stats back it up: Bumrah and Siraj bowled 15% of their deliveries on leg stump. Kamboj and Thakur weren’t much better. England didn’t need a bazooka; a feather duster did the trick.
India’s Day 2 wasn’t a horror show — but it was a warning sign. A reminder that even the best sides can lose shape under subtle pressure. That control, once lost, is tough to claw back without discipline and clarity. And most importantly, that leg-side freebies in Test cricket aren’t just runs — they’re a slow death.
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