England’s declaration as an IND vs. NoG 1ST test

England have announced a 14-member squad for the IND vs ENG 1st Test, which begins June 20 at Headingley, Leeds. England will go with a depleted pace battery as Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Gus Atkinson all miss out with injuries. While England Test captain Ben Stokes has returned to bowling action, England’s pace attack could struggle against an inexperienced but flamboyant India batting.

With Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma retiring from Tests, Shubman Gill will lead India. The most experienced players in the squad are Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul and Karun Nair, who will return to India Test Playing XI after 9 years. Jasprit Bumrah will lead India’s bowling attack. India haven’t won a Test series in England since 2007. The IND vs ENG Test series will also mark the beginning ofthe WTC 2025-27 cycle.

England squad for IND vs ENG 1st Test

• Ben Stokes (Durham) – Captain
• Shoaib Bashir (Somerset)
• Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire)
• Harry Brook (Yorkshire)
• Brydon Carse (Durham)
• Sam Cook (Essex)
• Zak Crawley (Kent)
• Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire)
• Jamie Overton (Surrey)
• Ollie Pope (Surrey)
• Joe Root (Yorkshire)
• Jamie Smith (Surrey)
• Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire)
• Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)

Injury-plagued England

Jofra Archer, who last played a Test match in 2021 in India, has been struggling with elbow injuries. He was also ruled out of England’s white-ball series against West Indies. Currently, Archer is nursing a right thumb injury.

Mark Wood has been out since the ICC Champions Trophy with a ligament tear in his right knee. He suffered the injury in the loss against Afghanistan. He underwent surgery and would be out till end of July, ruling him out of the India vs England Tests.

Gus Atkinson is recovering from a hamstring injury. He is likely to make a full recovery at some stage in the Test series against India.

England have recalled Jamie Overton as a result. Overton, who played for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2025, will return to the England Test squad for the first time since 2022. The good news is that Brydon Carse and Chris Woakes are fit for the series. Woakes is likely to play the second match for England Lions against India A to prepare for the Test series.