India vs England: Two losses in three Tests but India shouldn’t be too worried

India lost two Tests out of three played so far in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025. However, they weren't outplayed in either of the Tests. The first Test was lost on the final day as England chased down a monumental target of 371. England batted well in their second innings, otherwise, India had the upper hand in the majority of that Test.

The recently played Lord’s Test also went down to the wire. Ravindra Jadeja kept the hopes alive till the final session of the Test match. India won't feel too disappointed and the spirits should still be high. India have rather improved since the first Test loss. 

Here’s a look at some of the positives from the first three Tests against England: 

1. India’s tail is showing resistance 

To counter India’s fragile lower-order, they added depth to their batting. Washington Sundar was brought into the playing XI and it worked wonders for them. Gill was involved in a 100-plus run partnership with Shubman Gill, which stretched the total to over 500 in the first innings of the second Test. It laid the foundation of India’s win in that Test match. 

Washington Sundar then showed his class with the ball in the third Test. He took the big wicket of Joe Root and it triggered England’s collapse. His outstanding bowling figures of 4 for 22 helped India bowl England out for just 192 in the second innings. Earlier, Sundar kept fighting hard with the lower-order to add crucial runs in the backend of the first innings total of 387. 

The performance of their tailenders has shown improvement as well. Both Bumrah and Siraj showed great resistance with the bat yesterday while chasing a 193-run target. Bumrah stitched a crucial 35-run partnership with Jadeja, while Siraj and Jadeja shared a 23-run stand for the last wicket. 

2. KL Rahul's consistency serves well for the team 

KL Rahul’s form has been their biggest positive going into the final two Tests. There have been fingers pointed at his mid-series decline in form previously on tours. But the Indian opener has stood tall and helped India post substantial totals.

Facing the new ball against the likes of Jofra Archer, Woakes, and Carse, KL Rahul played a brilliant 100-run knock in the Lord’s Test match and is currently India’s third-highest run-getter in the series only behind Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill. In three Tests, he has scored 375 runs at an average of 62.50, including two hundreds and one fifty. 

3. India's fast bowling unit hunting together in a pack 

In the first Test match, it was Jasprit Bumrah who did most of the heavy lifting for India in the bowling department. Akash Deep replaced Bumrah in the second Test and picked ten wickets in the game, while Siraj picked a six-for in the second innings. Mohammed Siraj bowled his heart out in the third Test match at Lord’s. It was a delight watching him bowl, picking four wickets in the Test match, though he deserved a lot more than that. 

To add to that, Nitish Reddy has shown improvement by leaps and bounds in his bowling. His outswingers bowled at good length areas have caused trouble to English batters’ aggressive style of play. Reddy sent both the openers back to the hut in the first innings of the Lord’s Test and then again picked Crawley’s wicket in the second innings.