India vs England Toss Update, 1st Test: IND vs ENG Playing 11, Captain's Quotes, Pitch Report

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India vs England Toss, Playing 11 Update 1st Test: England captain Ben Stokes opted to bowl first after winning the toss against India at Headingley in Leeds on June 20, 2025 (Friday).

After winning the toss, Ben Stokes said: We'll bowl. Headingley is a very good cricket wicket, we've had some really good games here. Want to try and use the early conditions. Been a long time coming, bit strange that this is just the second series but we're ready. It's been mixed, some lads have played county cricket, we've had three days of really good cricket. Usual suspects in the top seven, Woakes, Brydon, Bashir, Tongue and myself make up the bowling.

Meanwhile India captain Shubman Gill said: Would've bowled first as well, might be a bit tough in the first session but it should be good to bat on later. Sun is out, should be a good batting deck for us. Preperation has been amazing, we played a practice game in Beckenham, lads are feeling great. Sai makes his debut, Karun comes in. Sai will bat at three.

IND vs ENG Playing XIs

India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.

England (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jamie Smith(w), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.

IND vs ENG Pitch Report

Despite its traditionally green appearance, the pitch at Headingley has proven advantageous for teams chasing targets in recent years. Remarkably, in each of the last six Tests at the venue, the side bowling first has emerged victorious. The fourth innings has often seen successful pursuits of sizable totals - including recent chases of 322, 359, 296, and 251. While conditions can be testing for batters early on, the surface tends to ease out as the game moves forward. Additionally, spinners tend to find increasing assistance from the pitch by the third and fourth days, making them a vital part of the bowling strategy.