Ben Stokes compares Rory Burns to Alastair Cook, predicts long Test future

Ben Duckett and Crawley win hearts for their performances

The England Test cricket team's 2025 opener Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley have made 188 runs in 256 balls in the second innings, and have made a very good foundation for their team. Although in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in the first match, India had made five Centuries by the efforts of Shubham Gill, KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Rishabh Pant but they lost the match.

Ben Duckett

The English opener Ben Duckett is a left-handed batter. He had made 62 in the first inning in 94 balls with a strike rate of 65.95 and smashed 9 fours before being dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah. In the second innings, Ben Duckett made 149 runs in 170 balls and smashed 21 fours and 1 six with a strike rate of 87.64. He shared a crucial opening stand with Crawley worth 188 runs, giving England a perfect start in their record chase.

Zak Crawley

The England top-order Batter Zak Crawley, who is right right-handed batsman, made 65 runs in 126 balls while smashing 7 fours in the second innings of the first Test match of the ENG vs IND 2025. Although he did not perform well in the first innings but he helped his team to stand in a good position.

The right-handed batter came into the clash on the back of some impressive performances in the Vitality Blast for Kent. He even scored a century against Zimbabwe in the solitary match they played the previous month.

Where did India lose the match?

In the first innings, when Rishabh Pant (134 runs in 178 balls ), Shubham Gill (147 runs in 227 balls), and Yashasvi Jaiswal (101 runs in 159 balls) scored their centuries, the match was in India’s hands. However, after them, Karan Nair and Ravindra Jadeja, and other wickets fell in quick succession. It proved to be the first of many blows India suffered in the game. In the second innings, the fielders were not up to the mark and could not provide support to their bowlers. Multiple catches were dropped by Yashasvi Jaiswal and one by Ravindra Jadeja, who is considered to be one of the safest fielders in the world.

Although in the third innings, India did not get a good start as Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubham Gill, and Sai Sudarshan got out, but the senior batter, KL Rahul was holding his position and then Rishabh Pant came to help him while making a century and they had make total of 370 setting a a huge target for England while making centuries. The pair of Karun Nair and Shardul Thakur once again disappointed; their performance was the same as it was in the first innings. KL Rahul scored 137 runs in 247 balls, and Rishabh Pant scored 118 runs in 140 balls and became the first Indian batter to hit twin centuries in England. And then, as in the first inning, the catches were dropped and Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett made a good partnership of 188 runs and gave a very good start to the English team.