ICC World Test Championship
About 312kms away from the iconic Lord's cricket Stadium where the historic South African triumph took place, India will start their latest journey against arch rivals England. It will be the start of this new cycle for both teams who will be vying again in a five-match affair to ensure they get an early advantage in the World Test Championship 2025-27. This will be the fourth straight time these two teams will be facing each other with India winning the two home series while the last one in England was an exciting 2-2 draw completed over a gap of one year in 2022.
There is a subdued sense of feeling about the arrival of Indian team on the English shores this time. No major advertisements, less curiosity about the team's net sessions and absence of fan queues lined up to welcome the India team travelling through different venues. This is not a surprise for some as the team is playing their first red balls series since the shock retirements of their superstars
Virat Kohli and
Rohit Sharma. The team can also see this as a blessing in disguise as there aren't many expectations from the new look Indian squad, something they can use to fly under the radar and spring up a few surprise performances.
New captain
Shubman Gill will relish this opportunity in one of the toughest assignments he could get early in his captaincy. All eyes will be on how he marshals his troops on the field after he has been relatively quiet in front of the cameras in the build-up to the Tendulkar-Anderson trophy so far. He will also be under pressure to put up better performance with the bat outside of the subcontinent. Can he guide this side to a series victory on English shores, last achieved by the
Rahul Dravid lead Indian team in
2007?
The English team on the other hand looks settled at least in the batting department. They are continuing with their best available top order and have a promising young
Jacob Bethell on the bench, looking for a chance to stake his claim.
Ben Stokes will again be leading from the front of what will be India's first taste of Bazball in English conditions. A lot will again depend on the consistent
Joe Root and his performances will be pivotal to shape England's dominance against India in home conditions.
It's the fast bowling that lacks bite, something you don't usually associate with the England side. Chris Woakes returns to lead the attack after an injury layoff, but the recent injuries to Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson (missing the first test), Olly Stone does put them in a tough spot. England announced that the skiddy Brydon Carse will be sharing the new ball with Woakes something he hasn't done so far in his short Test career and the pacy Josh Tongue will partner them as the third English seamer. The captain taking on the fast bowling all-round duties, if required. The Indian bowling line-up is well settled with their mainstays Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj to take the new ball. There is a toss between Prasidh, Akash Deep and Arshdeep for the third seamer. Shardul might trump Nitish for the fast bowling all-round slot. With Bumrah expected to play only three of the five matches, India will rely a lot on Siraj and the other seamers to bring their A game against the Bazballers. Typically the English conditions should help fast bowling, although there is a tendency to play on slightly flat pitches since Brendon Mccullum has taken over the head coach role. But the bowlers will not complain since the overcast conditions do provide enough assistance to keep the movement in play.
It will be a stern test for the Indian batting line-up. Openers Jaiswal and Rahul are expected to continue their promising start in Australia last time while captain Gill will take the No. 4 spot. It's a toss between Sai Sudharsan and Abhimanyu Easwaran for the No.3 position but Karun Nair is confirmed to complete a fairytale return to the side after 7 years on the back of some brilliant domestic performances and a double hundred against England Lions earlier this month. A new look slip cordon is expected with Jaiswal, Rahul, captain Gill and Nair to help the bowlers get the English batters nicking behind.
This series is expected to be a battle between the strong suites of English batting vs Indian bowling. If the English batters are able to deal with the threat of dangerous Bumrah, things might become easier for them in the upcoming matches while if India get better of the excellent Joe Root consistently, they will be better placed to take the trophy home.
The weather in Leeds might see slight rain on Day 2 and Day 3. The last two days will see plenty of rain throughout the day. The pitch is expected to help the fast bowlers on Day 1 and expected to get batter with time. Winning the toss and bowling first will be the preferred decision.
References : ESPNCricinfo
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