While the men’s team suffered a demoralising 4-0 defeat in England, the women’s team is making the nation proud. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led India is on the verge of winning the first-ever women’s Test at Lord’s as they are crushing England. Yastika Bhatia stole the show on Sunday with her maiden hundred. Meanwhile, England’s favourite coach, Brendon McCullum, has parted ways with his role as the Test head coach. While there are discussions that RCB coach Andy Flower might replace him, it is a huge call by the ECB. Speaking about coaching, there’s a major shake-up likely to happen, with Gautam Gambhir’s coaching staff likely to bid adieu to a major figure.
India coach to say goodbye?
The BCCI is worried about losing two of Gautam Gambhir’s handpicked coaches after the England series. Assistant coaches Ryan ten Doeschate and Morne Morkel’s contracts end on July 19, and both are unsure about renewing. Doeschate has flagged the year-round travel and is reportedly in talks with an IPL franchise. Morkel is still deciding but finds the travel taxing. Both joined in July 2024 with Gambhir. With Abhishek Nayar already gone in January and fielding coach T. Dilip also expected to leave, the BCCI may have to rebuild the support staff before the Sri Lanka Tests in August. Lakshmipathy Balaji from the CoE is being considered to replace Morkel. VVS Laxman will go to Zimbabwe with the team next.
Yastika Bhatia show for India!
Yastika Bhatia made history at Lord’s. The 25-year-old scored 145 balls for her maiden Test hundred and became the first woman ever to score a Test century at the iconic ground. She looked calm throughout, hit 13 fours, and now has her first international ton across formats. It’s come at the perfect time too, after her spot was under question following a poor T20 World Cup 2026. She’s also the 11th Indian woman to score a Test century, joining names like Mithali Raj, Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma. Sandhya Agarwal still leads with 4. Yastika is the first Indian woman with a Test ton since 2024. Earlier, Kranti Gaud’s five-wicket haul made it an iconic day for India as well.
Why Samson over Sooryavanshi?
Shreyas Iyer explained why Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was dropped for Sanju Samson in the final T20I against England. With India already 0-3 down, the team wanted the best combination for Southampton conditions. Iyer said they needed a right-hander to partner Abhishek Sharma at the top, and with only one right-hander in the previous top eight, balance was off. He called Samson a “gun batsman” who has won games for India before. Sooryavanshi, 15, struggled against short balls earlier in the series and missed out despite the pitch being good for batting. Samson, meanwhile, failed again in his last chance. He isn’t part of the Zimbabwe tour either.
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Brendon McCullum sacked?
Brendon McCullum’s time as England Test coach is over. The ECB confirmed on Sunday that he’s stepping down from the red-ball role, though he’ll continue with the white-ball teams. The move comes weeks after captain Ben Stokes announced his retirement following a nightclub incident that also ruled him out of the second Test vs New Zealand. With both gone, England’s Test setup has been blown up. McCullum was appointed in May 2022 with Stokes. “Bazball” gave England instant results, 11 wins in the first 13 Tests and a 3-0 sweep in Pakistan. Overall he finishes with 27 wins from 49 Tests at 55.10%. But it never worked against India or Australia, and the last 12 Tests brought only 3 wins. McCullum said he’s “gutted” but respects the decision, hinting it wasn’t fully his call.
Harshit Rana injured; Prince Yadav in ODIs
Harshit Rana is out again. The pacer picked up a Grade 1 hamstring injury during the Nottingham T20I on July 7 and has been ruled out of the England ODIs. He’ll report to the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru for rehab. Varun Chakaravarthy will also head home and miss the Zimbabwe tour. This is another setback for Rana, who only recently returned from knee surgery that made him miss the T20 World Cup 2026 and IPL 2026. Prince Yadav comes in as his replacement. He debuted in ODIs vs Afghanistan last month and played 4 games on the UK tour. He also has 3 T20I wickets vs Ireland. Now he gets another shot to stake a claim in 50-over cricket.
Heather Knight retires as well
Heather Knight has called time on her England career after the one-off Test against India at Lord’s. She joins teammate Tammy Beaumont in retiring, ending a 16 year run that started when she debuted in 2010 aged 18. Knight captained England 199 times and led them to the 2017 ODI World Cup title. She played over 320 internationals, the most for England, and is third on their all time run charts in both ODIs and T20Is. She said she’s grateful for the dressing room and thanked teammates, coaches and medical staff. India gave her a guard of honour in her final knock.
