
This series marks the beginning of the new ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 cycle for both teams.
Preview
In this prediction, get the best ENG vs IND Fantasy 11 Prediction, Cricket Tips, Playing XI, Pitch Report, and Injury Updates for the 1st Test, WTC 2025-27. The first Test of India’s tour of England will start on Friday, June 20, at Headingley in Leeds. This series also marks the beginning of the new ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 cycle for both teams. In the last WTC cycle, England finished fifth with 11 wins in 22 matches. India came third after a disappointing 3-0 loss to New Zealand at home and a 3-1 defeat to Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, missing out on the final.
England, led by Ben Stokes, have already announced their playing XI for the first Test. Chris Woakes, Josh Tongue, and Brydon Carse will lead the fast bowling attack, while Shoaib Bashir will be the only spinner. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett will open the batting, with Joe Root and Ollie Pope in the top four. Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Carse, and Tongue will be facing India in Tests for the first time. For India, this series marks a new beginning as senior players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravichandran Ashwin have retired from Test cricket. Shubman Gill has been named captain, with Rishabh Pant as his deputy.
Middle-order batter Karun Nair, who has been recalled after strong performances in domestic cricket, is likely to return to the XI after eight years. Also, Sai Sudharsan, known for his good form in white-ball cricket, is expected to make his Test debut. Fast bowler Harshit Rana has been added to the squad for the Leeds Test.
Match Information- ENG vs IND Fantasy 11 Prediction
Probable PlayingXI
England
Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, JE Root, HC Brook, JL Smith, Ben Stokes(C), Chris Woakes, BM Duckett, BA Carse, JC Tongue, Shoaib Bashir
Bench: Jacob Bethell, J Overton, Samuel Cook
India
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(C), Karun Nair, RA Jadeja, Rishabh Pant, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, JJ Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna
Bench: DC Jurel, AR Easwaran, K Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, KL Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, H Rana
Pitch Report
Jasprit Bumrah IND | bowl
Bumrah was the second-highest wicket-taker in the last cycle of the World Test Championship. He took 77 wickets in 15 games at an average of 15.09.
Jadeja has taken 27 wickets in England in 12 Test matches at an average of 43.48. With the bat, he has amassed 642 runs at an average of 29.18. His only century outside India has come in England.
Root was the leading run-scorer in the last cycle of the WTC. The former English captain scored 1968 runs in 40 innings at an average of 54.66.
Josh Tongue– ENG | BOWL- 7.5