Bazball, blunders and broken records: India’s most confusing Test defeat
Sports | Cricket
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25 JUN 2025 | 08:13:12
Still can’t wrap my head around how India lost the 1st Test—but hey, records were made... and broken. Let’s take you through the most bizarre ones.
1.) A Useless Century Carnival
Picture this: 5 individual centuries in one Test. Yes, FIVE.
In 148 years of Test cricket, no team had ever scored five hundreds in a match and still ended up losing.
Well, India just achieved that very rare... achievement.
In 148 years of Test cricket, no team had ever scored five hundreds in a match and still ended up losing.
Well, India just achieved that very rare... achievement.
Two centuries came from Rishabh Pant, and one each from Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
It was like a perfectly performed symphony—until someone tripped over the final note and accidentally set the concert hall on fire.
It was like a perfectly performed symphony—until someone tripped over the final note and accidentally set the concert hall on fire.
2.) England’s Favorite Chase Partners? India.
This was England’s second-highest successful run chase in Test history. Unfortunately, the first also came against India—in 2022—when they chased down 378. Clearly, if England ever needs a miracle chase, they know who to call.
3.) Twin Tons, Double the Pain
It was only the 4th time in Test history, and the first time in 11 years, that an Indian batter scored a century in both innings—and still ended up on the losing side. Rare? Absolutely. The last time this happened was in 2014, when Virat Kohli scored twin tons in Adelaide—and India still lost. Turns out, for Indian fans, a batter scoring in both innings is more of a doom signal than a moment of glory.
4.) Big Runs, No Returns
India scored a whopping 835 runs in the match. Yes, eight hundred and thirty-five. And yet, they walked away with a defeat. That’s the 4th most runs ever scored by a team in a losing cause in Test history.
Most runs scored by a team in a defeat:
861 Eng vs Aus (1948)
847 Pak vs Eng (2022)
837 NZ vs Eng (2022)
835 Ind vs Eng (2025)
Fun fact: 3 of the top 4 on this list have come against England under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
At this point, Bazball doesn’t feel like a strategy—it feels like chaos magic, and India keeps ending up as the sacrifice.
