Media365
Former England fast bowler Stuart Broad believes India holds an advantage over England at Headingley heading into day four of the first Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test. India secured a six-run first-innings lead thanks to Jasprit Bumrah’s 5-83, despite England’s strong showing of 465 powered by Ollie Pope’s 106 and Harry Brook’s 99. KL Rahul’s unbeaten 47 has helped extend India’s lead to 96 runs.The match remains finely poised with two days of play remaining at Leeds.Broad shared his analysis of the match situation on Sky Sports, emphasizing India’s current position of strength.
“I don’t think, with two days left, that India can get into a position to completely bat England out of the game and give themselves enough time to take 10 wickets. England will go for the win even if that risks a loss – but India are in a bit of control at the moment as the surface is more cracked and worn than I expected from a day four-pitch,” Broad stated.He further added: “India are in a strong position. If I was in India’s camp now, I would be saying ‘get me another 250’ so 350 runs on the board. Headingley gets better to bat historically, but we don’t see this heat and sunshine so often, and it has spun, so I don’t think it will be as easy as it has been in previous years.”
Former England captain Nasser Hussain expressed concern over India’s first innings collapse.“I think India will be a little disappointed. They had the collapse of 7-41 in their innings and the England score should then have been a lot less. That last little session last night was vital for them in that they didn’t let England back into the game even more,” Hussain commented.Former Australia women’s cricketer Mel Jones anticipates an exciting conclusion to the match.“Over the last three days, we have seen individual performances and how players go about things. The next two days I think we are going to learn about how collectively the teams want to go about this series. How do India want to push this game forward? Are England willing to risk losing in order to win? It will be a thrilling next few days,” Jones remarked.
