England and India will clash in a five-Test series starting at Leeds from the 20th of June (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
It is one of the most anticipated Test series on the international calendar. It is a rivalry that has grown in stature over the years, with drama on and off the field adding to the theater and excitement. It may no longer be called the Pataudi Trophy, but a change in name will not diminish the aura of the five-Test series between England and India, which gets underway at Headingley in Leeds on the 20th of this month.
It will be a new-look Indian unit with a new captain at the helm. While India are by far the best limited-overs team in the world, they have slipped in the rankings in Test cricket and would like to start the new World Test Championship cycle (2025-27) on a positive note.
Hosts England, on the other hand, will also be desperate for a rollicking start to their campaign in the 2025-27 ICC Test Championship—despite “Bazball,” they haven’t made the final in any of the three editions so far.
RG previews the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
India
It will be a very different Indian contingent that takes the field in the five-Test series this time around under the leadership of Shubman Gill. For starters, their two batting stalwarts—Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma—will not be part of the XI. The latter was India’s leading run-getter on the 2021 tour. The visitors will also be without their greatest match-winner in Test cricket, R Ashwin.
The key batter for India will be KL Rahul—he scored a match-winning hundred at Lord’s in 2021 and was in ominous form against England Lions in Northampton. Rahul has played most of his Test career (83 of 101 innings) at the top of the order.
Jasprit Bumrah will spearhead India’s pace attack. He was sensational on the 2021 tour, returning as the leading wicket-taker of the series with 23 wickets at an average of 22.47.
India secured a 2-2 draw the last time they toured England in 2021. They led 2-1 before the series was halted due to COVID-19. A Bazball-resurgent England hammered India in the fifth and final encounter in Birmingham in July the following year, chasing down a record 378 in under 80 overs in the fourth innings.
India Likely XI for Leeds
- KL Rahul
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- Sai Sudharsan
- Shubman Gill
- Rishabh Pant
- Karun Nair
- Nitish Reddy
- Ravindra Jadeja
- Mohammed Siraj
- Prasidh Krishna
- Jasprit Bumrah
England
England have enjoyed a fine run in Test cricket since the home series against New Zealand in June 2022—the series in which they essentially unleashed “Bazball.” Since then, they have played 12 series and won eight.
Joe Root will be the pivot in the England batting order. He has piled on 3,117 runs in 36 matches at an average of 56.7 since the New Zealand home series in 2022. No batter in the world has scored more runs than the England No. 4 during this period, nor has anyone registered more hundreds than his 11.
Harry Brook has had a brilliant start to his Test career, smashing 2,339 runs in 25 matches at an average of 58.47, with eight hundreds. Jamie Smith is the latest batting sensation from England and has already made a mark in his 10 Test appearances for the country. Smith has accumulated 641 runs at an average of 42.7, including a century against Sri Lanka in Manchester.
The retirements of James Anderson and Stuart Broad have left a huge void in England’s bowling unit, and this could be their weakness in the series. Several of their frontline pacers are injured—Jofra Archer, Olly Stone and Mark Wood, to name a few—and that will hurt England. Brydon Carse and Chris Woakes are expected to share the new ball. Woakes has bagged 51 wickets in his last 12 Tests at 21.88 apiece, while Carse has made a massive impact since his debut against Pakistan in Multan last year. The right-arm pacer has picked up 27 wickets in just five Tests at an average of 19.85.
England Likely XI for Leeds
- Zak Crawley
- Ben Duckett
- Jacob Bethell
- Joe Root
- Harry Brook
- Jamie Smith
- Ben Stokes
- Chris Woakes
- Brydon Carse
- Shoaib Bashir
- Josh Tongue
Matchups
KL Rahul vs. Chris Woakes
- Innings: 4
- Runs: 34
- Average: 34
- Dismissals: 1
Shubman Gill vs. Shoaib Bashir
- Innings: 5
- Runs: 125
- Average: 62.5
- Dismissals: 2
Joe Root vs. Jasprit Bumrah
- Innings: 24
- Runs: 286
- Average: 31.77
- Dismissals: 9
Ben Stokes vs. Ravindra Jadeja
- Innings: 19
- Runs: 125
- Average: 20.8
- Dismissals: 6
Stats that Matter
- India haven’t won a Test series in England since 2007. They drew in 2021-22 and lost in 2011, 2014 and 2018.
- No pair has scored more runs in Test cricket than Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett since June 2022.
- Nine of the top 10 pairs in terms of scoring rate in Test cricket (minimum 500 runs since June 2022) are from England.
- England have scored at a rate of 4.63 since adopting Bazball in the home series against New Zealand in June 2022. It is the highest scoring rate among all teams during this period.
- Bumrah’s Test bowling average of 19.4 is the best-ever in Test history among bowlers who have played at least 30 matches and taken at least 150 wickets.
- Joe Root is the fifth-highest run-getter in Test history, with 13,006 runs in 153 Tests. A strong series against India could see him surpass Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting to move to No. 2 on the list, behind only Sachin Tendulkar.
Nikhil Narain is a die-hard cricket romantic, published author, and has worked for some of the leading digital websites and broadcasters in India and overseas. An alumnus of the London School of Economics, Nikhil's forte is using data and numbers creatively to weave interesting stories and revolutionize the way cricket statistics are generated and analyzed.
