ENG vs IND: 1st Test Preview – Awaiting Indians face the English challenge

India and England will take each other in a five-Test series, which starts on August 4 in Nottingham. The inaugural cycle of the World Test Championship concluded on June 23 in Southampton as New Zealand claimed the titular fixture against India. The upcoming five-match series is earmarked to initiate the second cycle of the ICC Test Championship, which will witness a few changes from the previous one.

In the second cycle, each team plays a total of six series – three home and as many away. Only the Ashes and the upcoming England-India series are five-match affairs, with all other tie-ups being either two or three-match series; the only exception being India and Australia’s series that will have four matches.

The most notable change is in the points system, as each win will award a team 12 points, a tie six points, draw four and a loss zero, in comparison to the previous structure where 120 points were assigned to each series. England recently lost the two-match series at home against New Zealand 0-1, while India’s last Test before the WTC final was against England at home, where they defeated the visitors 3-1 after being 0-1 down.

Although it is England who have the home advantage on the side this time around, the visitors will aim to better their performance from the previous two outings against England in 2014 and 2018.

Match Details

Match – England vs India 1st Test

Venue – Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Time – 03:30 PM IST

Head to head:

Team News:

England

All-rounder Ben Stokes has pulled out of the series as he took an indefinite break from cricket. Craig Overton has been named as his replacement. With Jofra Archer being unavailable, England will be fielding both James Anderson and Stuart Broad.

India

Shubman Gill injured his shin during the WTC final while both Washinton Sundar and Avesh Khan picked up finger injuries during India’s warm-up fixture against County XI in Durham. Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav were named as their replacements. India suffered another blow as Mayank Agarwal was ruled out of the first Test due to a concussion. KL Rahul may take his place at the top.

Probable XI