England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bowl against India in the opening match of the five-Test series for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at Headingley on Friday. This match marks the beginning of a new era for India, who are without stalwarts Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin. All three players retired from Test cricket ahead of the new World Test Championship cycle. Shubman Gill is leading the Indian team for the first time in the red-ball format. India will look to end a 23-year-long wait for a series win in England. Their last series victory on English soil came in 2007. England, on the other hand, have not lost a Test series at home since head coach Brendon McCullum and skipper Stokes took over in 2022. Their aggressive playing style, commonly referred to as 'Bazball', has become their identity in recent years.
India handed a debut to left-handed batter Sai Sudharsan. The 23-year-old from Tamil Nadu received his Test cap from senior player Cheteshwar Pujara. Karun Nair also returned to the national side for the first time since 2017. Shardul Thakur was picked ahead of Nitish Kumar Reddy and will serve as the fourth pace option. The pace attack will be led by Jasprit Bumrah, with Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna as supporting seamers. Ravindra Jadeja is the lone spinner and will also contribute with the bat.
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At the toss, England captain Stokes said, “We will bowl. Headingley has always been a good cricket wicket. We want to make the most of the early help. Some of our players have been active in county cricket and the squad is in good shape.”
India skipper Gill said, “We would have bowled first as well. It might be tricky early on, but it should get better for batting. The sun is out, and we are confident. Sai makes his debut and Karun returns. Sai will bat at three.”
Match Details and Broadcast Information
Match: India vs England, 1st Test
Dates: June 20 to 24, 2025
Venue: Headingley, Leeds
Start Time: 3:30 PM IST
Live Telecast: Sony Sports Network
Live Streaming: JioHotstar app and website
England Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir
India Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
