England Announces Squad for First Test Against India at Headingley
England's Team Selection for the Opening Test
The England cricket team has revealed its lineup for the inaugural Test match against India, scheduled to commence on Friday, June 20, at Headingley. All-rounder Chris Woakes returns to the red-ball format for the first time since December, while Brydon Carse, a seamer from Durham, will make his Test debut on home ground. Carse has previously participated in five Test matches, all during tours to Pakistan and New Zealand. Ben Stokes will captain a strong squad.
The English team has retained their usual opening pair, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, to maintain their aggressive approach under the 'Bazball' philosophy. Ollie Pope is set to bat at No. 3, followed by Joe Root at No. 4. Harry Brook will occupy the No. 5 position, while Jacob Bethell has been left out of the first Test.
Stokes and his team will enter the match with a pace attack consisting of Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, and Josh Tongue, with Stokes himself expected to contribute as the fourth seam option.
Shoaib Bashir will be the sole spinner tasked with countering India's batting lineup. The bowling unit appears to be one pacer short, and the captain will aim to set an example during the match.
England's Lineup for the First Test Against India
The selected players for England are: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (C), Jamie Smith (WK), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, and Shoaib Bashir.
India's Squad Announcement
In a pre-match press conference held in Leeds, India's vice-captain Rishabh Pant confirmed that Shubman Gill will now bat at No. 4 in red-ball cricket, taking over the position previously held by Virat Kohli. Pant will continue to bat at No. 5 in the Indian batting order.
India's squad for the first Test includes: Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, B Sai Sudharsan, Karun Nair, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, and Mohammed Siraj.