India vs England 2025 Leeds 1st Test Both Teams Best Playing 11

June 18, 2025 Abhay Kothari Cricgasm, Cricket, Cricket News, Dhruv Jurel, England Cricket Team, India Cricket Team, India vs England, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Team India, Test Cricket, Yashasvi Jaiswal 6 min read

Shubman Gill, the debut Captain in focus as we look at the India vs England 2025 1st Test Leeds best predicted playing 11 for both teams.

After a blockbuster IPL 2025 where we saw the Royal Challengers Bengaluru win the trophy for the first time in 18 years, the Indian team players are now gearing up for their toughest challenge of the year, the England Away Test series. Both India and England begin their WTC 2025-27 cycle with a 5-match Test series starting June 20. 5 Test matches is what they have, and the first one begins at Leeds.

2022 was the last time India played a Test match at Headingley, Leeds. It was an unforgettable match for India as they lost by an innings and 76 runs. Contrastingly, India won by innings and 46 runs prior to this match at Headingley, back in 2002. Surprisingly, we had two contrasting pitches on offer in both. While the 2002 match favoured the spinners, the 2021 match favoured the pacers.

So, what will be on offer in India vs England 2025 1st Test match at Leeds? Well, gone are those days when spin used to be an important factor in England. Sure, it plays an important role, but that’s mostly in the 2nd innings when the pitch becomes dry. But it looks unlikely England will start the series with a dry pitch even as the weather remains hot. Expect, England to prepare a green top with a pitch likely to bring on spinners on the 4th or 5th day of the Test match.

India vs England 2025 Key Match Details

Series: India Tour of England 2025

Match Type: India vs England 1st Test 2025

Where: Leeds, England

When: June 20-24, 2025, 3:30 pm IST

India vs England 2025 Official Test Squad and Players List for Indian Team

Batters: Abhimanyu Easwaran, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c) & Yashasvi Jaiswal

Wicket-keepers: Dhruv Jurel & Rishabh Pant (vc)

All-rounders: Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja & Washington Sundar

Bowlers: Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna & Shardul Thakur

Team India have a big headache going into this Test match. Four of the most senior and first-choice players are missing from the Test team. The likes of which are former Captain and opener Rohit Sharma, number 4 specialist Virat Kohli, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, and pacer Mohammed Shami. Barring Ashwin, if the other three were available, they would straight away draft in the starting 11. But since these four players are not there, India will have to alter the combination a lot.

Firstly, let’s talk about the confirmed players, who shall walk into the playing 11 without a second thought. From the squad of 19 players, we should see Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul as openers. Shubman Gill should mostly donn the number 4 position now. Wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant shall play at 5, and Ravindra Jadeja at 6 or 7. Where among bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah is the only sure-shot bowler as of now. So, overall we have 6 confirmed players in the playing 11.

Now, coming to filling the gaps, the first thing we need is someone who can bat at number 3. There are three options that the team will have in mind for this spot, and those are Karun Nair, Abhimanyu Easwaran, and Sai Sudharsan. Among the three Sai seems to be the most technically sound player to play at this position. But since Karun Nair did well for India A at this position, and has had a good Ranji too, expect India to opt for Karun Nair for the number 3 spot.

Lower-order

Moving on to the lower order, the second question that India will have is who bats in the lower order alongside Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja. Now, had Sai played at 3, Karun at 6 would have been an automatic choice. But if Karun is preferred for 3, then Dhruv Jurel remains the best-fit player for the number 6 slot. Dhruv has done well at this spot playing for India A, so he seems an ideal bet for the number 6 position as of now.

Another question for Team India is to decide between Shardul Thakur and Nitish Reddy for the all-rounder slot. This will be a difficult choice for India as one is a batting all-rounder, and another is a bowling all-rounder. It will be a difficult choice for India as both offer a unique combination. But expect Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill combo to opt for the experience of Shardul in England. Shardul is a good bowler, and can also provide decent runs with the bat.

Now, coming to the bowling lineup, India will have to see two pacers to support Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah will play the first Test match for sure. But to support him, India have many pacers to look at. There are as many as 5 pacers to select two, but the most competent for the Leeds match shall be Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna. The Gujarat Titans’ pace duo were also a part of India’s previous Test match, and they did well too. With Siraj having experience in England, expect Praisdh to be the third pacer in the squad.

India vs England 2025 1st Test Best Playing 11 for Indian Team

Yashasvi Jaiswal
KL Rahul
Karun Nair
Shubman Gill (c)
Rishabh Pant (wk)
Dhruv Jurel
Ravindra Jadeja
Shardul Thakur
Jasprit Bumrah
Mohammed Siraj
Prasidh Krishna

India vs Eng 2025 Official 1st Test Squad and Players List for England

Batters: Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Joe Root, Ollie Pope & Zak Crawley

Wicket-keepers: Jamie Smith

All-rounders: Ben Stokes, Brydon Carse, Chris Woakes, Jamie Overton & Jacob Bethell

Bowlers: Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir & Sam Cook

The England team has short-listed their 14 members for the 1st match. Of the 14 members, expect England to leave out Brydon Carse, Jamie Overton, and Jacob Bethell. England should mostly opt for the pace of Chris Woakes over the other all-rounders. Whereas the bowling lineup looks revamped for England with the likes of Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue being there.