England and India will face each other in the 1st Test Match of the Anderson-Tendulkar series on 20th June at Headingley.
Match Preview:
You may remember the 2011 Oval Test, a game that seemed to be the ambiguous prelude to a new Indian era and the end of an old one. RP Singh appeared as out of place as his tan after being flown in from a Miami holiday.
Graeme Swann tangled webs around India’s exhausted batting, Ian Bell carved out a double-century, and Rahul Dravid, the lone warrior, concluded the tour with his third hundred. Suresh Raina, meanwhile, suffered through a torturous 42-ball pair. The outcome? The whitewash that hurt more than most was England 4, India 0.
However, that game also marked the final time India played a Test match without Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, or Cheteshwar Pujara.
Fourteen years later, as India walk out at Headingley this Friday, not one of those names will be on the team sheet.
In addition to marking the commencement of a new World Test Championship cycle, the series opener against England marks the formal start of a new era in Indian cricket. The end of a golden generation that anchored Indian Test domination for more than ten years, new faces, and a new leadership group.
It’s easy to make analogies to 2011. A 4-0 drubbing at the time made India reconsider. And they did rethink it, putting together a team over the following several years that would turn out to be their most successful and adaptable Test squad ever. In 2025, Shubman Gill guides a younger team into equally difficult ground in an effort to match or surpass the standards established by that heritage.
There is no easing into this new phase, unlike previous transitions. No home series against a team with a poor ranking. England is where the Shubman Gill period starts, along with the commotion, attention, and pressure that go along with it.
However, this is also not the England of the past. Neither 2011 nor 2014 nor 2018 nor even 2021 is this. The days of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, two titans who influenced India-England matches for years, are over. It’s Broad in the commentary box now. The trophy will bear Anderson’s name, but the starting lineup will not.
There are other teams entering the series with new players besides India. England is also dealing with inexperience, particularly in quick bowling, which is the area that matters most in English conditions. Olly Stone and Mark Wood are out due to chronic injuries. Gus Atkinson and Jofra Archer, who is making his first appearance in red-ball cricket in four years, may play in the second Test match, but they won’t play in Leeds.
India will perceive England’s vulnerability as a result of this. Because India has Jasprit Bumrah, the leader, the trump card, and the player who knows how to destroy batting lineups under these exact circumstances, even though both teams are uncertain.
Playing XI:
England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Josh Tongue, 11 Shoaib Bashir
India (probable): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 KL Rahul, 3 B Sai Sudharsan, 4 Shubman Gill (capt), 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Karun Nair, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Shardul Thakur/Nitish Kumar Reddy/Kuldeep Yadav, 9 Prasidh Krishna, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed Siraj
Pitch and weather report:
Be a green seamer at first, then flatten out. Headingley’s pitches have performed as follows in recent years: the first and second innings had the lowest collective average (27.48) of any English grounds that have hosted at least five Test matches since 2010, while the third and fourth innings had the highest collective average (33.65).
At Headingley, it’s probably best to bowl first. In the last four fourth innings, successful chases of 322, 359, 296 and 251 have been achieved, and teams that bowl first have won all six Test matches played there.
Head-to-head record:
India and England have faced off 264 times, with England winning 106, India 102, and 50 matches ending in a tie.
Prediction:
England is favourite to win
Where to Watch:Pakistan: Tapmad
India: JioHotstar app and website
UK: Sky Go and Sky Now
South Africa: DSTV app
US and Canada: Willow Tv
