Team India and England will begin their 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle as they lock horns in the first of the five-Test series at the Headingley in Leeds, beginning on June 20. With England prone to rains, it remains to be seen if showers will interrupt the proceedings on day one of the contest.
While the cloud cover is 45%, the precipitation is only 4% on day one, with the conditions remaining partially hot. The conditions will be the same for afternoon, while the weather is all set to remain cloudy in the evening, making it conducive to the bowlers. However, with showers unlikely to pour in, fans will get an opportunity to see full day's play.
Leeds morning weather. | (Credits: Screenshot)
Leeds afternoon weather. | (Credits: Screenshot)
Leeds evening weather. | (Credits: Screenshot)
From Team India's perspective, this will be their first Test since Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma retired from the format, with Shubman Gill shouldering the leadership responsibilities. The newly-appointed Test skipper is all set to bat at number four in the opening game.
England are dealing with their own challenges as the hosts will play the first home season in years without either James Anderson or Stuart Broad. However, Ben Stokes is yet to lose a home Test series since becoming captain and he will want to maintain that record.
England vs India 2025 Test series squads:
England squad: Ben Stokes (C), Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Zak Crawley, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Chris Woakes, Ollie Pope (WK), Jamie Smith (WK), Samuel James Cook, Brydon Carse, Shoaib Bashir, Josh Tongue and Jamie Overton.
Team India squad: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana.
