World Test Championship: India vs England first match to be held at Leeds

Team India is gearing up for their first match against England. It is a five-match test series, which is a part of ICC World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.

The WTC series will be held from June to August 2025. The match is scheduled at Headingley in Leeds, Edgbaston in Birmingham, Lord’s and the Oval in London, and Old Trafford in Manchester.

India and England have faced each other in 136 test matches. England has won 51 of those encounters, while India has claimed victory in 35. The remaining 50 matches ended up in draw.

The match is scheduled at Headingley, Leeds and will begin at 3.30 PM IST. Team India is set to start a new chapter under Shubhman Gill’s captaincy.

A newly-appointed Test captain Shubman Gill opened up about the honour of leading the national side and the leadership vision he shares with vice-captain Rishabh Pant.

Taking charge of the team in the longest format, Gill described the captaincy as the highest privilege for any cricketer.

“Captaining your country, especially in Test cricket, is the biggest honour a player can get,” said Gill.

“It’s something not many get the opportunity to experience, and I am very excited for this challenge,” he noted.

Gill, who has spent years playing alongside Pant across various formats, spoke about their shared approach to leadership and the team environment they wish to foster.

“Rishabh and I have played a lot of cricket together, and our thinking is quite aligned. We want to build a culture in the team where everyone feels secure,” he said.

“I genuinely believe that players give their best performances when they feel validated and safe, and that’s exactly the kind of environment we aim to create,” he added.

Under a fresh leadership group, India will aim to begin a new chapter in Test cricket with renewed energy and clarity, as they look to overcome England in their own backyard.

A new era beckons for India in the Test format as the modern-day giants gear up for their first assignment without the prized batting bigwigs Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Shubman Gill, India’s youngest Test captain, has taken the baton from Rohit to guide the nation to success and challenge for the World Test Championship mace.

WTC India’s squad:

Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana.

WTC England Playing XI for the 1st Test against India:

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (C), Jamie Smith (WK), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.