England's bowlers staged a late-innings fightback to limit India's first-day score at Headingley after Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bowl. The decision to bowl first was influenced by overcast conditions and the hope of exploiting early seam movement, despite sunny overhead conditions later in the day. Brydon Carse, who has impressed in recent tours, opened the bowling alongside Chris Woakes.
India's innings began cautiously, with openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul adopting a watchful approach. At the end of two overs, India were 4 without loss. The English pace duo initially kept things tight, with Chris Woakes conceding few runs and Brydon Carse bowling with good rhythm and maintaining a probing length. India reached 26 without loss after nine overs, with Jaiswal on 19 and Rahul on 7. Both batsmen displayed patience against tidy seam bowling. After 14 overs, India had progressed to 44, with Rahul on 16 and Jaiswal on 27.
However, just as India looked set to build a substantial first-innings total, England's bowlers struck back with crucial wickets. While the top order showed resilience, the middle and lower order crumbled under the pressure exerted by the English bowlers. The late wickets prevented India from capitalizing on their solid start. Debutant Sai Sudharsan, batting at No. 3, and the returning Karun Nair also failed to make significant contributions, adding to India's woes.
Despite the batting struggles, the Indian team features a blend of youth and experience. Shubman Gill leads the side in the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Rishabh Pant returns as vice-captain and wicketkeeper, adding crucial experience. The batting lineup includes Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. The pace attack is spearheaded by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, with Shardul Thakur providing balance to the team.
England's bowling attack, however, has been depleted by injuries to key players such as Mark Wood and Olly Stone. This places greater responsibility on Chris Woakes, Josh Tongue, and Brydon Carse to lead the pace attack. Shoaib Bashir serves as the lone specialist spinner. Several players, including Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Brydon Carse, and Josh Tongue, are making their Test debuts against India, highlighting the relative inexperience in England's bowling unit.
The Headingley pitch is known to favor both batters and fast bowlers. While it offers seam and swing movement early on, it tends to flatten out as the match progresses, bringing spinners into play. The weather forecast predicts warm and dry conditions for the first day, but rain is expected on the second day, potentially influencing the match.
The series marks the beginning of the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle for both teams. India, under the new leadership of Shubman Gill, aims to end their drought of winning a Test series in England since 2007. England, unbeaten at home since 2022, will look to continue their dominance.
India's batting lineup will need to adapt to the conditions and build partnerships to counter England's "Bazball" approach. The Indian bowlers, led by Bumrah and Siraj, will need to exploit the early seam movement and maintain pressure on the English batsmen.
