India Vs England Test Series Preview: Key Players, Match-ups, Key Stats - All You Need To Know

It is one of the most anticipated Test series in the international calendar. It is a rivalry which has grown in stature over the years with drama on and off the field adding to the theatre and excitement. It may no longer be called the Pataudi Trophy but a change in name will not dimmish the aura of the five-Test series between England and India which gets underway at Headingley in Leeds from 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 up in the rankings in Test cricket - India suffered a 3-0 humiliation at the hands of New Zealand at home in 2024 before going down 3-1 in Australia - and would like to start the new World Test Championship cycle (2025-2027) on a positive note.

Hosts England, on the other hand, would also be desperate for a rollicking start to their campaign in the 2025-2027 ICC Test Championship 바카라“ despite 바카라˜Bazball바카라™, they haven바카라™t made the final in even one of the three editions so far.

India

It will be a very different Indian contingent which takes field in the five-Test series this time around under the leadership of Shubman Gill. For starters 바카라“ their two batting stalwarts 바카라“ Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will not be a part of the XI. The latter was India바카라™s leading run-getter on the tour in 2021. The visitors will also be without their greatest match-winner in Test cricket 바카라“ R Ashwin.

The key batter for India will be KL Rahul 바카라“ he got a match-winning hundred at Lord바카라™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 and is almost certain to partner Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top of the order. This would, in turn mean that the captain can push himself down to number 4 which would add some experience to what is likely be a relatively untested middle-order.

Jasprit Bumrah will spearhead India바카라™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. Mohammed Siraj will share the new ball with Bumrah while the mighty impressive Prasidh Krishna 바카라“ who was amongst the two best fast bowlers of the 2025 IPL should be the third seamer. Ravindra Jadeja is likely to be the lone spinner, at least at Leeds.

India prized out 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 next year, chasing down a record 378 in under 80 overs in the fourth innings!

India Likely XI for Leeds:

1. Kl Rahul, 2. Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3. Sai Sudharsan, 4. Shubman Gill, 5. Rishabh Pant, 6. Karun Nair, 7 Nitish Reddy, 8. Ravindra Jadeja, 9. Mohammed Siraj, 10. Prasidh Krishna, 11. Jasprit Bumrah

England

England have enjoyed a fine run in Test cricket since the home series against New Zealand in June 2022 바카라“ essentially the series in which they unleashed 바카라˜Bazball바카라™! Since then, they have played 12 series and won as many as eight!

Joe Root will be the pivot in the England batting order. He has piled on 3117 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 number 4 in this time-frame. Neither has any one registered more hundreds than his 11!

Harry Brook has had a brilliant start to his Test career and smashed 2339 runs in 25 matches at an average of 58.47 with 8 hundreds. Jamie Smith is the latest batting sensation from England and has already made a mark for himself in his 10 Test appearances for the country. Smith has an aggregate of 641 runs at an average of 42.7 with a century against Sri Lanka in Manchester.

The retirement of James Anderson and Stuart Broad has left a huge void in England바카라™s bowling unit and this could be their weakness in the series. A number of their frontline pacers are injured 바카라“ Jofra Archer, Olly Stone and Mark Wood to name a few 바카라“ and that will hurt England in the series. Brydon Carse and Chris Woakes are expected to share the new ball. While Woakes has bagged 51 wickets in his last 12 Tests at 21.88 apiece, Carse has made a massive impact since his debut against Pakistan in Multan last year. The right-arm fast has picked 27 wickets in just 5 Tests at an average of 19.85.

England Likely XI for Leeds:

1. Zak Crawley, 2. Ben Duckett, 3. Jacob Bethell, 4. Joe Root, 5. Harry Brook, 6. Jamie Smith, 7. Ben Stokes, 8. Chris Woakes, 9. Brydon Carse, 10. Shoaib Bashir, 11. Josh Tongue

India vs England Match-ups

1. KL Rahul vs Chris Woakes

Innings 바카라“ 4

Runs 바카라“ 34

Average 바카라“ 34

Dismissals 바카라“ 1

2. Shubman Gill vs Shoaib Bashir

Innings 바카라“ 5

Runs 바카라“ 125

Average 바카라“ 62.5

Dismissals 바카라“ 2

3. Joe Root vs Jasprit Bumrah

Innings 바카라“ 24

Runs 바카라“ 286

Average 바카라“ 31.77

Dismissals 바카라“ 9

4. Ben Stokes vs Ravindra Jadeja

Innings 바카라“ 19

Runs 바카라“ 125

Average 바카라“ 20.8

Dismissals 바카라“ 6

Stats that Matter

- India haven바카라™t won a Test series in England since 2007. They drew in 2021-22 while being on the losing side 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 (min. 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 amongst all teams in this time-frame.

- Bumrah바카라™s Test bowling average of 19.4 is the best-ever in Test history for all bowlers who have played a minimum of 30 matches and picked at least 150 wickets.

- Joe Root is the fifth-highest run-getter in Test history with 13006 runs in 153 Tests. A decent series against India and he could surpass Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting to move to number 2 on the list only behind Sachin Tendulkar.