The Indian cricket team created an unwanted Test record after losing to England in the first match at Headingley, Leeds, on Tuesday.

 

Despite scoring five individual centuries across both innings, the Indian team failed to win or draw the match, becoming the first side in the 150-year history of Test cricket to lose after such a remarkable batting performance.

 

India batted first and put up a massive 471 runs in their first innings, followed by 364 in the second. In reply, England scored 465 runs in their first innings and successfully chased the 371-run target in the fourth innings, finishing at 373 for 5 to win the match by five wickets.

 

However, the defeat was marked not by the individual brilliance of Indian batters but by the unprecedented outcome, as no team in Test history had ever scored five centuries in a single match and still ended up on the losing side.

 

India’s first innings saw centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal (101), Shubman Gill (147), and Rishabh Pant (134). In the second innings, Pant scored another century with 118 runs while KL Rahul added 137. Yet all this effort went in vain as the bowlers failed to defend a large target in the final innings.

 

Before this, the highest number of centuries by a team in a losing cause was four. That happened almost a century ago in 1929, when Australia lost to England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground despite scoring four centuries.

 

There have also been 11 instances in Test history where a team scored three centuries and still lost. However, India’s feat of scoring five and still losing stands out as a new and unfortunate first.