The first Test of the five -Test series between India and England will be played in the Leeds from June 20. Leeds usually hosts a Test match in the middle of a series, but the initial match here has caught a lot of attention.
The Indian team reached here on Monday. England organized a training session here, where the pitch was covered during the day. India has not played too much cricket in Leeds in the last two decades. The team suffered an innings defeat in their last match here in 2021.
London 🚄 Leeds
‘Train’ing with #Teamindia #ENGVIND pic.twitter.com/i1GBSTU0PC
– BCCI (@Bcci) June 18, 2025
Leeds ground head Richard Robinson has said that the unusually dry weather and England’s aggressive sports style here have raised the expectations of ‘good surface’ for the first Test against India from Friday.
Robinson told ‘ESPNcricinfo’, ‘They (England) just want a good surface, so that we can hit the ball line. This is what they want. Robinson hopes that the pitch will help the fast bowlers, but will become flat due to the expected heat.
The pitch will not only be suited to England’s badgeball style (aggressive playing style), but it will also give an inexperienced Indian batting order more opportunity to remain in the match.
After the retirement of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, KL Rahul will be the most senior player in Shubman Gill -led Indian team, who will have to prove a lot in the SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) countries looking at his simple record.
The batting order also includes Yashasvi Jaiswal who has come on his first tour of England with the senior team. Karun Nair last played a Test match in 2017. He has also scored a triple century in Test cricket.