A fresh chapter in India-England Test rivalry begins today at Headingley as young Shubman Gill leads a transitioning Indian side against Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes’ fearless England, in the inaugural contest of the newly-instituted Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
With the stalwarts of Indian cricket — Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, retiring from the longest format last month, India enters the five-Test series with a youthful core and a new leadership group. Gill, the 25-year-old appointed as India’s 37th Test captain, faces his toughest test yet, both as leader and as a batter, in a country where India has managed just three Test series wins (1971, 1986, 2007) in nine decades.
Despite the absence of Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who played his best Test cricket in the 2021 series, this could be India’s best chance to put pressure on an English bowling line-up that wouldn’t have the quality that James Anderson and Stuart Broad brought for two decades. An attack comprising Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue and Shoaib Bashir with skipper Stokes to complement them doesn’t exactly strike fear in the opposition ranks.
England, meanwhile, will head into the contest, armed with their aggressive ‘Bazball’ approach. Their XI, already announced, features a batting-heavy line-up with Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow anchoring the top order.
But the presence of a peerless Jasprit Bumrah in the Indian bowling unit puts the visitors on even keel. This is despite the pace spearhead being available for only three Tests. Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav and potential seam options in Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh or Akash Deep provide depth. The spin puzzle continues with Ravindra Jadeja’s batting value competing against left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav’s wicket-taking threat.
For the home side, much of their success will also depend on how Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett start against Bumrah and Siraj, who can ask more than a few probing questions. Ollie Pope, who was ‘Bumrahed’ in the last India series, would know that Jacob Bethell is breathing down his neck for the No.3 spot.
But it is the Root versus Bumrah duel in three of the five games that could basically determine the outcome of the series.
Meanwhile, for the visitors, the bigger question remains in India’s middle order. With KL Rahul the most experienced batter highly likely to replace Rohit as Yashasvi Jaiswal’s opening partner, Karun Nair, who is set for a return to Test fold after eight years could be the No.3 although the spot remains undecided.
Vice-captain Rishabh Pant has confirmed Shubman Gill will bat at No.4 for the first time in his 32-Test career, and himself at No.5.
It will be interesting to see if India opt for the exciting Sai Sudharsan or bolster depth with seam all-rounders Nitish Reddy and Shardul Thakur for the No.6 spot.
The conditions at Headingley are expected to favour seamers early on, before flattening out under sunny skies, and both sides will be eager to get off to a positive start as the series marks the start of a new World Test Championship cycle for 2025-27.
Squads:
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 and Shoaib Bashir.
India: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (VC & WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana.