The first match of the five -match Test series between India and England is to be played today (20 June) at the Headingley Cricket Ground in Leeds. The toss in the match will be at 3 pm Indian time and the first ball will be thrown at 3.30 pm. The Indian team last won the series on England soil in 2007. Now his attempt is to eliminate 18 years of drought. By the way, the pitch here is very green.

If seen, the Indian team has mixed memories from the headingley cricket ground. When the Indian team went to play a Test match at this ground for the last time, their performance was quite disappointing. In that Test match played from 25 to 28 August 2021, the Indian team had to face a crushing defeat by innings and 76 runs.

A view of the pitch for the Leeds Test 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 x 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/wzKh9nOJfi

– Espncrycinfo (@espncrycinfo) June 18, 2025

In that match, Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to bat first. However, King Kohli’s decision was not correct and India’s first innings was reduced to just 78 runs. For England, fast bowlers James Anderson and Craig Overton took 3-3 wickets. Then England scored 432 runs in their first innings thanks to Captain Joe Root’s century (121) and got a big lead of 354 runs. In England’s first innings, David Malan (70 runs), Haseeb Hameed (68 runs) and Rory Burns (61 runs) played half -century innings. Fast bowler Mohammed Shami took the most 4 wickets for India.

After this, the Indian batsmen tried their best to struggle in the second turn, but England had so much lead, which the Indian team could not bridge. The second innings of the Indian team were reduced to 278 runs and the match ended on the fourth day. Cheteshwar Pujara scored the highest 91 runs in India’s second innings. At the same time, Rohit Sharma (59 runs) and Virat Kohli (55 runs) also played half -century innings. English fast bowler Oli Robinson took the most 5 wickets.

When did India win on this ground?

The Indian team has played a total of 7 Test matches at the Handingley Cricket Ground in Leeds, which remained against the host England. In four of these seven matches, the Indian team had to face defeat. While Team India won in two matches. At the same time, a match was also left on the draw. The Indian team won the first Test victory in the year 1986 under the captaincy of Kapil Dev at the Handingley Cricket Ground. Then India defeated England by 6 wickets. Then under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly, the Indian team won this venue by an innings and 46 runs against England in 2001.

Talking about England, he has played 80 Test matches so far at the Headingley Cricket Ground in Leeds. During this time he won in 37 matches. Whereas in 25 Tests, hosts England had to face defeat. There were also draws 18 matches.

Understand Leeds Pitch Pitch and Conditions

The pitch of the headingle ground of Leeds is usually helpful for fast bowlers in the beginning. It is called “Green Seamar”, that is, on which the ball does both swing and seam. But as the match progresses, the pitch becomes flat and becomes easy for the batsmen. In the first and second innings, the average score of the batsmen has been the lowest than the remaining England grounds, meaning it is difficult to score in the beginning. But in the third and fourth innings, the average of the batsmen is the best – that is, it becomes easy to score later.

In the last six Tests played here, the team that bowled first won. And the last four times the big targets in the fourth innings have also successfully chased – 322, 359, 296 and 251 runs. Therefore, it is considered the best decision to bowl by winning the toss here. But a thing to keep in mind: This time the weather is hot and dry in the leads before the test. If the same weather remains during the match (although there is a possibility of rain), the pitch may break, which can help the spinners – which is not usually in handingley.

Results of all 7 Test matches of Indian team (Leeds)
5-9 June 1952: England defeated India by 7 wickets
2-4 July 1959: England won by innings and 173 runs
8-13 July 1967: England won by 6 wickets
16-21 August 1979: Draw
19-23 June 1986: India defeated England by 279 runs
22-26 August 2002: India won by innings and 46 runs
25-28 August 2021: England won by innings and 76 runs

India vs England H2H (Test Cricket)
Total Test: 136
India won: 35
England won: 51
Draw: 50

Indian Team: Shubman Gill (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudarshan, Rishabh Pant (Deputy Captain/Wicketkeeper), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Juril (wicketkeeper), Abhimanyu Ishwar, Shardul Thakur, Jaspreet Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, famous Krishna, Karun Nair, Kulne Nair, Kulpadh Singh, Kuldeep, Kuldeep, Kuldeep, Kuldeep, Kuldeep, Kulpadh, Kulpadh, Kulpandar, Kulpandar, Kulpadh, Kulpandar, Kulla Yadav, Harshit Rana.

England’s playing XI for Leeds Test: Jack Craulie, Ben Docket, Oli Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (Captain), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Chris Woakes, Bridan Cars, Josh Tung, Shoaib Bashir.

India vs England Test series schedule
First Test: 20-24 June, 2025- Handingley, Leeds
Second Test: July 2-6, 2025- Edgbaston, Birmingham
Third Test: 10-14 July, 2025- Lords, London
Fourth Test: 23-27 July, 2025- Old Trafford, Manchester
Fifth Test: 31 July-4 August, 2025- The Oval, London