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LEEDS: Shubman Gill has a chance to make history in his first match as captain, as India prepare to face England in the opening game of the five-Test series at the iconic Headingley ground, starting on Friday.
The 25-year-old replaced regular skipper Rohit Sharma, who, along with Virat Kohli, announced retirement ahead of the tour, marking the beginning of a new era for Indian Test cricket.
A win at Headingley would make Gill only the third Indian captain to lead the side to victory at this venue, after Kapil Dev (1986) and Sourav Ganguly (2002).
Even stalwarts like MS Dhoni and Kohli couldn’t break the Headingley jinx. In fact, during India’s last appearance here in 2021, Kohli’s men suffered a crushing innings defeat.
It’s important to highlight that India has not clinched a Test series victory on English soil since 2007.
Moreover, on June 20, when Shubman Gill walks out for the toss, he will become India’s fifth-youngest Test captain.
In doing so, he will step into the illustrious lineage of cricketing legends such as Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and Sachin Tendulkar.
Since making his debut during the 2020–21 Australia tour, he has featured in 32 Tests, scoring 1,893 runs at an average of 35.05.
However, this will be his first full red-ball tour of England, having only featured in the WTC finals in 2021 and 2023.
The five-match series kicks off at Headingley, with the remaining Tests scheduled at Edgbaston, Lord’s, Old Trafford, and The Oval.
India squad for England Tests:
Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akashdeep, Arshdeep Singh and Kuldeep Yadav.
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