Next June, Headingley will host the opening Test of England’s home series against India.
England have got a fabulous recent record at Headingley, winning their last five Tests at our famous old home dating back to 2018, including two Tests against Australia in 2019 and 2023 and one against India in 2021.
So what better place to start a series?
India, now coached by Gautam Gambhir, are currently ranked number two in the world, and they are jam-packed with talent.
That’s indicated by the fact we have picked five players to watch in next summer’s Test, and neither Virat Kohli or their captain Rohit Sharma are included.
Picture by Ishara S. Kodikara – AFP via Getty Images. Virat Kohli chats to new Indian coach Gautam Gambhir (r).
Ravi Ashwin
Yorkshire fans were robbed of seeing one of the world’s very best in 2020 when Coronavirus struck.
The county signed all-rounder Ashwin on an overseas deal for the majority of the County Championship season, only for the deal to be cancelled when the season didn’t start until August.
Off-spinner Ashwin – 516 Test wickets – is one of only two Indian bowlers to have passed the 500-wicket mark, fellow spinner Anil Kumble (619) the other. Twenty six of them came against England at the start of the year.
Aged 37, Ashwin has played exactly 100 Tests for India and has taken 744 wickets for them across all formats. He was part of their 2011 ODI World Cup-winning squad.
An off-spinner with many variations, Ashwin has taken 61 wickets in only 10 Championship appearances for Worcestershire, Nottinghamshire and Surrey.
Picture by Gareth Copley/Getty Images. Ravi Ashwin bowls during the India v England Test series at the start of this year. England will be hoping to avenge a 4-1 series defeat.
Jasprit Bumrah
India’s most potent seam bowling weapon. He has married success in all three formats and has taken over 400 wickets for his country, including 159 in 36 Tests.
The 30-year-old was the player-of-the-tournament as India won the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean earlier this summer, with 15 wickets, including two apiece in the semi-final win over England and the final success against South Africa.
It has been a memorable year for the fast bowler with an unorthodox action – one of those actions you will see kids the world over trying to copy as they play around with their mates in the nets at the local cricket club.
He took 19 wickets in four Tests in the New Year home series win against England.
Picture by Gareth Copley/Getty Images. India’s talismanic fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah.
Shubman Gill
Top order batter, 24, who looks likely to be a mainstay of the Indian team – across all formats – over the next decade.
An IPL winner with Gujarat Titans in 2022 and their captain in the campaign just gone, he topped the 450-run mark in the home series victory against England at the start of the year.
Gill’s batting is very much in the Virat Kohli mould. He mixes effortless power with poise and could open or bat in the top order.
In an India shirt, he has had most success in the ODI format, with six hundreds in 47 matches and an average of 58.2.
Two of his four Test centuries to date – in 25 appearances – came in the aforementioned England series.
Picture by Sajjad Hussain – AFP via Getty Images. Shubman Gill impressed against England at the start of the year.
Yashasvi Jaiswal
Opening batter who has not yet played 10 Test Matches but has already sailed beyond 1,000 runs, including a trio of centuries with two doubles in there.
The 22-year-old left-hander scored back-to-back double centuries in the New Year series against England, which India won 4-1 on home soil.
He was the leading run-scorer in that series with 712 runs, 260 more than any other player.
Jaiswal is a classy player who has also enjoyed success in the IPL with Rajasthan Royals. He was part of India’s T20 World Cup-winning squad this summer but didn’t play.
In that England series, he posted scores of 214 not out, 209, 80, 73 and 57.
Picture by Gareth Copley/Getty Images. Yashasvi Jaiswal topped the 700-run mark in the New Year home series win against England is one of India’s stars of the future.
Rishabh Pant
The wicketkeeper-batter’s return to Test Cricket would be such a heart-warming tale after being involved in a life-threatening car accident in late 2022.
He was out of cricket up until the start of this year’s IPL in late March but has made an impressive return to the game, culminating in him playing a central role in India’s T20 World Cup title triumph in the Caribbean and USA earlier this year.
Left-handed batter Pant is an aggressive middle order striker in the mould of Adam Gilchrist and Jonny Bairstow.
The 26-year-old has played 140 times across the formats for India and has scored five hundreds in 33 Test appearances.
He has played T20 and ODI cricket since his return from injury but not yet Test Cricket. He is due to play some red-ball domestic cricket in India next month.
Picture by Alex Davidson. ICC/via Getty Images. Rishabh Pant’s return to fitness following a car accident in late 2022, and his contribution to India’s summer T20 World Cup success, has been a heart-warming tale.
