Gill era set to roll as India braces for the Bazball test

It is quite fashionable – and a bit of truism too – to say that no team or player carries secrets anymore. Such is the speed at which information travels and so many are the opportunities to mingle – like in franchise T20 leagues – that every cricketer’s every move is broken down, analysed threadbare and bespoke plans hatched.

Yet, when England hosts India in the first of five Tests starting Friday at Headingley here, there is a fair sprinkling of the unknown. How will a new-look Indian batting order sans Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma fare? How will an inexperienced English bowling attack perform? And how will a venue which has long been synonymous with swing and seam behave under hot conditions and forecast for very little rain.

The chief among the intrigues for India is about who would bat at No. 3, with skipper Shubman Gill – who started his career up top and then became the designated No. 3 – confirmed to occupy the No. 4 position, a right of passage, following in the footsteps of Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli.

B. Sai Sudharsan is spoken of highly, and Karun Nair has past experience of playing Tests, two seasons of country cricket for Northamptonshire and a 204 at No. 3 for India-A versus England Lions recently.

The bowling, set to be led by the irresistible duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, will see a shuffle too. Prasidh Krishna and Arshdeep Singh lead the race for the third seamer’s berth, and there is Akash Deep too. Prasidh can threaten the top half of the willow while Arshdeep brings a left-armer’s variety and knowhow of the Dukes ball, having played for county side Kent.

Who among all-rounders Nitish Reddy and Shardul Thakur, and tweaker Kuldeep Yadav play will indicate the Indian think tank’s philosophy. Nitish can shore up the batting while Thakur offers a better chance of taking 20 scalps. With the turf expected to flatten progressively, the left-arm wrist spin of Kuldeep, that fetched up 19 wickets at 20.15 across four home Tests against England last year, can come in handy.

England, in contrast, cannot boast of such riches. Captain Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes are seasoned men but Stokes has had a limited role as a bowler in recent times while Woakes was out of action for four months (ankle trouble) and has just two First Class games leading in.

However, there is a familiar look to the batting. With Ollie Pope set for No. 3, it is near-certain that the home side will sport the same top-four of Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Pope and local hero Joe Root as it had the last time it met India, in Dharamshala in March 2024. England would however like a different result, for back then, it lost the match by an innings and 64 runs, a result that secured India a 4-1 series win.

Confidence can be gained from the fact that England has won each of the last five matches at Leeds going back seven years, including the innings-and-a-76-run victory over India in 2021. A continuation of this streak will only further whet the appetite of the average fan in these parts after the enthralling World Test Championship final that ushered this summer’s big-ticket action.

The teams: England (XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt.), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue and Shoaib Bashir.

India (from): Shubman Gill (capt.), Rishabh Pant (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, K.L. Rahul, B. Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav and Harshit Rana.

Match starts at 3.30 p.m. IST.

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