Before the first Test against India, England’s captain Ben Stokes shared his thoughts about the upcoming series, mentioning the exciting time ahead for the visitors after they named young Shubman Gill as their new captain. With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli stepping away from Test cricket recently, India is looking to the younger players to lead the way. Stokes commented on Gill’s potential, saying, “I think Shubman Gill is a really good player. He’s been around for a bit now, especially considering he’s young. He’s played a lot of cricket, including IPL cricket and for India. This is a big moment for Indian cricket with new leadership. Being the captain of the Indian team is a lot of pressure, but it can be an exciting time when fresh leadership comes in. He’ll be my opponent for the next six weeks, so I won’t say too much more, but I wish him all the best.”
At just 25, Gill is among the youngest captains in recent memory. While he doesn’t have much experience leading in Test matches, he did captain India in a T20I series against Zimbabwe in 2024 and has been at the helm of the Gujarat Titans in the IPL. He also served as vice-captain in ODIs and T20Is and was Rohit Sharma’s second-in-command during India’s successful Champions Trophy campaign in the UAE last February.
The India tour of England is set for June to August 2025, with matches taking place at Headingley, Edgbaston, Lord’s, Old Trafford, and The Oval. This marks a new chapter for India in Test cricket as they prepare to start without the big names of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Shubman Gill, as the youngest Test captain, is stepping up to lead the way.
The Indian squad for the England series includes: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc, wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudarshan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, and Kuldeep Yadav.
England’s lineup for the first Test was announced, and it mostly stays the same as the one that played against Zimbabwe last month. The opening Test begins on June 20 at Headingley, with Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett set to open, followed by Ollie Pope in the third spot. England’s Playing XI for the first Test is: 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.