India, England first Test gets underway, Ben Stokes wins toss
The much-anticipated first Test between India and England is currently underway in Leeds, with skipper Ben Stokes winning the toss and opting to field first on Friday.
The Test assumes significance it is the first Test India is playing under the leadership of the new skipper, Shubman Gill.
Cricket enthusiasts are keenly looking at the performance of the new look Indian Test side, which took to the field for the first time since stalwarts Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin retired from the longest format of the game.
The Indian Cricket Team and the England Cricket Team observed a moment of silence in memory of the victims of the Ahmedabad plane crash ahead of the start of play on Day 1 of the first Test at Headingley, Leeds.
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 20, 2025
The teams are wearing the black armbands to express solidarity with… pic.twitter.com/Guxf1aO8iJ
Gill is seen by many experts as the next batting superstar of the country. The 25-year-old is now the fifth youngest skipper of India.
The series remains crucial for English perspective since they are preparing for the Ashes series later this year.
The two batting line-up:
Indian Batting line-up: Y. Jaiswal, KL. Rahul, S. Sudharsan, S. Gill (c), R. Pant (wk), K. Nair, R. Jadeja, S.Thakur, P.Krishna, J. Bumrah, M. Siraj
English batting line-up: B. Stokes (C), Z. Crawley, B. Duckett, O. Pope, J. Root, H. Brook, J. Smith (WK), C. Woakes, B. Carse, J. Tongue, S. Bashir.
