Cricket news: England vs India - First Test preview
The eagerly anticipated series between England and India gets underway on Friday when the two sides meet at Headingley for the first of five encounters.
It’s a new era for the visitors who are led by captain Shubman Gill following the retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, as they look to win their first series on English soil for the first time since 2007.
As for the hosts, they will be looking to implement their ‘Bazball’ style of play as they seek to win the newly named Tendulkar-Anderson trophy, formerly known as the Pataudi trophy.
Here, Sports News Blitz cricket writer Bilal Patel previews what’s in store for the opening Test match in a thrilling clash.
Match preview
This series marks a new chapter in the rivalry between England and India.
Brendon McCullum’s side have enjoyed a decent run of form in the longest format of the game since he took over in June 2022.
They were unbeaten in their first six series under new leadership, including a 2-2 draw between the two sides in England, but when they came up against the Men in Blue again, they were defeated 4-1 on Indian soil.
Since then, England’s only series defeat was against Pakistan last year. However, they remain unbeaten at home in the ‘Bazball’ era.
Coming into the summer, the English batters were on song in their comprehensive victory over Zimbabwe last month.
The batting shone with the top three of Zak Crawley (124), Ben Duckett (140) and Ollie Pope (171) all notching up centuries.
The hosts would see this series as an opportunity to further stamp their authority before the awaited away Ashes series against Australia in November.
It is a period of transition for the Indian Test side, who are coming into this series in poor form.
They disappointed against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar trophy as they lost 3-1 in the five-match series.
A shock 3-0 loss also came their way at home at home against New Zealand, ending their unbeaten home series run spanning over a decade.
Shubman Gill has been appointed captain to steady the ship ahead of a tough task that awaits them.
Despite playing the hosts close the last time these two sides met in England, it is a much-changed Indian line-up this time around.
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Team news
England have already announced their starting line-up for the opening Test, with two bowling changes from the game against Zimbabwe.
England XI for first 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
The experienced Woakes returns to the fold after returning from an ankle injury, and the left-arm pacer Carse is preferred over Sam Cook.
Jofra Archer and Mark Wood are not available for the opening Test but will be expected to feature across the coming weeks.
As for India, their batting is not set in stone compared to their counterparts, especially after the retirements of Kohli and Sharma.
There has also been concern on which combination of pacers should lead the bowling attack alongside Jasprit Bumrah who will be the spearhead for the visitors.
Predicted India XI for First Test against India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
The surprise entry will be Nair who is expected to make his return to the Test side having last played for the Men in Blue in 2017.
He famously scored a triple century against England in Mohali in 2016, having played just six international Test matches during his career.
Gill will be expected to take Kohli’s spot at number four, having struggled at number three during the Australia tour with a high score of just 31.
Thakur will be favoured ahead of Nitish Kumar Reddy as the all-rounder in the side, having had previous experience in England.
The Indian Premier League’s (IPL) highest wicket-taker Prasidh will round off the bowling attack ahead of the likes of Akash Deep and Harshit Rana.
Prasidh also played under Gill in this year’s IPL for the Gujarat Titans.
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Pitch report
In the last six Test matches at Leeds, the team batting second has won every single time.
England themselves have a good record at Headingley. They won six out of the last seven matches played in Yorkshire, which included a comprehensive innings and 55 runs victory over India in 2021.
Temperatures are expected to get close to 30°C with lots of sunshine for the first couple of days, but then cool off nearer to 20°C by the back-end of the match.
With that in mind, it could be best suited to defend a target in the final innings, with the weather having a major impact on proceedings.
Match prediction
Recent history and form are on England’s side; however, India, with their new-look side, could spring a surprise in this opening encounter.
England’s settled batting line-up is expected to dominate and also expose India’s slightly fragile batters.
We think Stokes will guide his side to victory and take the lead in the series.
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