HEADINGLEY — Two days out from every Test match, Ben Stokes goes through a rigorous workout he calls his “beast session.”
Turning up at the ground well before his teammates, England’s captain works relentlessly on his batting and bowling before hitting the gym.
A BEAUTY from Ben Stokes to bring Yashasvi Jaiswal's superb innings to an end pic.twitter.com/4UuTP1gHp0
England were not good. In fact, they were terrible for most of a day that ended with India well on top and Stokes probably questioning why he decided to bowl first after winning the toss.
It is one thing turning it on against Zimbabwe, as Stokes did with the ball at Trent Bridge last month to prove he is over his injury issues and back as a full all-rounder.
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That thought seemed fanciful as brilliant centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal and newly-installed India captain Shubman Gill made the rest of England’s attack seem impotent.
Yet the brutal fact is that without Stokes operating as an all-rounder, this team will have zero chance of winning either this series or the one in Australia this winter.
The 13 overs Stokes got through on this first day at Headingley were the most he has bowled in an innings of a home Test since the first Bazball summer of 2022.
It is why days such as this, when Stokes looks so good and ups his workload, spark fears that, at the age of 34, he might break down again.
WHAT A WAY TO DO IT!
Shubman Gill brings up his first century as India Test captain pic.twitter.com/1Xm1nJDBVs
But that was in New Zealand last winter when, after bowling 24 overs in the first innings of a dead rubber in Hamilton, he tore his left hamstring for the second time in five months.
As well as those “beast sessions” that allow him to gradually taper his workload before each Test, he has largely given up alcohol this year.
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This summer, he looks leaner and fitter than he has at any point in recent memory.
Stokes has every intention of being with his team every step of the way until the very end of the Ashes and the steps he is taking off the field show he is deadly serious.
The reason for that is not only plentiful rest – this Test is only his second match since tearing that hamstring last December – but the extra technical work he undertook in the weeks before this series.
It certainly looked that way, too, on this opening day in Leeds, with the highlight of Stokes’s performance the 87-miles-per hour ball that bowled Jaiswal shortly after tea.
Yet that delivery to Jaiswal, a mere footnote of the day, may grow in significance over the coming months.
India captain Shubman Gill silenced the sceptics with a fine century (Photo: Getty)
A tough morning for England was alleviated with two wickets in the final seven minutes before lunch when Brydon Carse had KL Rahul caught at first slip and then Ben Stokes struck to remove debutant Sai Sudharsan for a four-ball duck.
Ollie Pope, preferred here to Jacob Bethell, missed a golden chance to run out Shubman Gill, on one, early in the afternoon session when his shy at the stumps from midwicket missed the stumps and instead went for four overthrows.
Having scored 712 runs against England in India last year, including two double hundreds, Yashasvi Jaiswal started the summer in style, carving Carse for three fours to move onto 99 before a single brought up his fifth Test century. Struggling with cramp in his right arm, it was a masterful innings from the 23-year-old.
Stokes looked England’s most threatening bowler all day so it was no surprise when he finally got rid of Jaiswal in the second over after tea with an 87-miles-per-hour delivery that swung in to bowl India’s newest batting superstar. It left the tourists 221 for three.
Gill made the most of his early reprieve to start his captaincy in style with a century full of sumptuous shots. There weren’t many better than the one that saw him drive Josh Tongue through the covers for four to get to the landmark in 140 balls
Stat of the day
Most catches in Test history
Rahul Dravid (India) – 210 Joe Root (England) – 209 Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka) – 205Former England bowler James Anderson on BBC Test Match Special
Bazball-o-meter: 2/10
It wasn’t a great day for Bazball at Headingley… (Graphic: The i Paper)Aside from Stokes, England struggled badly in the field. They weren’t the ones providing the entertainment either, with Jaiswal, Gill and Rishabh Pant turning on the style to bat their team into a commanding position on day one.
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