The new cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC) gets underway for India and England as the two nations lock horns in the five-match series, starting with the 1st Test at Headingley, Leeds on Friday, June 20.
Both sides will eye a spot in the 2025-27 WTC final, and would look to start off the series with a win that could shape up the rest of their campaign.
Team India, who will be without the retired trio of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin- are in transition phase with Shubman Gill leading the side in this new dawn for Indian cricket. Gambhir and Gill duo will look to play their own brand of cricket, a la Bazball!
Ahead of the 1st Test, both sides are not facing any injury issues with player available for selection.
All eyes will be on Karun Nair and whether the veteran batter gets a call-up to the Indian side after an eight-year hiatus. Nair could slot in at no. 3 with Nitish Kumar Reddy and Sai Sudharsan fighting for a spot in the side.
However, Nitish Kumar Reddy's all-round skill could get looked at and might come in over Sudharsan. Shardul Thakur could also feature in this Test given his all-round capabilities.
IND vs ENG 1st Test Playing 11: India vs England Predicted Lineups
India Predicted XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Reddy, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
England XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.
