India remained in a spot of bother against England on Day 5 of the 1st Test against England, with the hosts navigating through to 181/0 before rain stopped play in the post-Lunch session. Soon, England scored the remaining 190 runs to win the match and take a 1-0 lead in the series. Despite the Indian bowling failing to make the breakthrough, captain Shubman Gill was doing his best to rally his bowlers. During Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley‘s record-breaking partnership, Gill’s hilarious remark from the slip cordon quickly went viral on social media.
‘Ek taraf mohammed hai. Ek taraf Krishna. dono tabhahi machayega (There is Mohammed on one side. Krishan on other side. both will wreak havoc),” Gill’s remark was caught on the stump mic.
pic.twitter.com/6uFiWiSVoz https://t.co/UGKJ7LHrYz
— Rathore (@bcci_x) June 24, 2025
Duckett made the most of a lifeline, scoring 149, after Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped the England opener on 98, failing to keep hold of the ball while diving in front of him with the batter mishitting a short ball off Mohammed Siraj.
Earlier in the first session, Crawley got a lifeline when Jasprit Bumrah failed to take a tough return catch on his follow-through.
Duckett has so far cracked 13 fours while Crawley has been comparatively subdued, reaching 57 with from 119 balls with six fours.
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar reflected on the first session of Day 5 and India’s chances heading into the final two sessions.
“Are England suddenly favourites? Before the session, I had it at 70-30 in India’s favour. After this, I’d call it 50-50. Not dramatically down to 30-70, because we still have the Jasprit Bumrah factor and England’s unpredictable weather. The pitch had gone to sleep-it had nothing to do with how India bowled. Even Bumrah got nothing out of it. Maybe it was the heavy roller effect. Hopefully, after lunch, the surface livens up and India can pick up a couple of wickets. But England’s real threat is their temperament in a fourth-innings chase,” Manjrekar said on JioHotstar.
