As the marquee England-India five-match Test series gets underway in Headingley on June 20, Naman Agarwal sets out five areas that will dictate the outcome of the series.
India have a new captain, about to lead them for the first time in Test cricket, accompanied by an inexperienced batting lineup as a whole. England have several injuries to contend with among their frontline pacers. And both teams have at least one all-time great contender each.
The build-up to the series has been exciting, with a historic World Test Championship final at Lord's and a renaming of the trophy to honour two of the greatest cricketers to have played from India and England. As anticipation builds further before the first ball is bowled, here's a breakdown of the five main areas that will decide the outcome of the series.
Can England avoid imploding against Bumrah?
Jasprit Bumrah has taken 60 wickets against England at an average of 22.16. If it helps ease their nerves, his average in England is worse - 23.78. There aren't any doubts about his greatness as a bowler, the only question with him is how long can he stay fit. A back injury during the Australia tour earlier this year has forced him to be "smarter" about his workloads, but if there were any misplaced theories that it would bring down his effectiveness, he put all those to rest during IPL 2025, delivering arguably the best season by a fast bowler in the tournament.
England's attacking brand of cricket is no longer a new strategy which Bumrah hasn't come up against. If anything, a high-risk approach may provide him more opportunities to make inroads. On the flipside, if England manage to somehow cut off the head of the snake and put Bumrah under pressure, especially early on in the series, it’s highly likely the body will follow. But first, they have to survive against him.
Also read: Why global warming could prompt India to play two spinners in England
Can Shubman Gill lead from the front, or will he buckle under pressure?
Captaining the Indian cricket team is a tough enough assignment, to do so for the first time on an away tour with very few seniors around and questions over your own batting output is a whole different ball-game. Gill will replace Rohit Sharma as captain and Virat Kohli as the No.4 batter. Always destined for both roles, this will be baptism of fire for Gill.
Also read: From heir to the hot seat: What to expect from Shubman Gill, India Test captain?
From three Tests in England, he averages 14. From 13 Tests outside Asia, he averages 25. His red-ball technique is not foolproof, and England will try and exploit that. India are already coming off a series where their captain had to drop himself for poor form. It didn’t turn out well. How Gill copes with the moving Dukes ball will go a long way in dictating the overall morale of the Indian side, and thus, the series.
Also read: Jaiswal, Gill, Pant and Rahul: India's next fab four face their biggest test yet
Can India do what they have never been able to: contain Joe Root?
No one has scored more runs than Joe Root in Test matches against India - 2,846 at 58.08. In England, he averages a mind-numbing 74.95 from 15 Tests. From his last five games at home against India, Root has scored four centuries. In short, India have never found a way around Root.
There will be a lot of emphasis on all the Bazballers batting around Root, their scoring rates, and how to control them. But none of them will give India as big a headache as the former England captain. Root vs Bumrah will be the battle of the series, and India will desperately hope for their main man to take out England’s. But Bumrah is only slated to play three of the five Tests due to workload reasons. How India deal with Root in his absence will determine if they remain on a never-ending leather-hunt or find themselves on top in the series.
Most runs among England batters ✅
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) June 17, 2025
Most hundreds among England batters ✅
Incredible consistency from Joe Root 💪#JoeRoot #Cricket pic.twitter.com/nCnLyuAlU3
How much of an impact England's inexperienced bowling can create on flat surfaces?
Two of England’s three frontline pacers have played five and three Tests respectively. The third, Chris Woakes, is coming off an ankle injury that kept him out for five months. Jamie Overton, part of the squad but not picked for the first Test has played only one Test match – in 2022. England have a lot of injuries to deal with among their quicks. India, on the other hand, have experienced support seamers around Bumrah: Mohammed Siraj now has 100 Test wickets to his name, and Shardul Thakur has previously had a successful England tour.
The general behaviour of pitches in England has changed over the last few years, coinciding with the Bazball regime. Seamers have averaged 30.33 in Test matches in England since Brendon McCullum took over as coach of the English Test side. From 2018 till the start of the Bazball era, that number read 25.42. If the trend continues, the inexperienced England bowling attack might find it tougher to bowl a young, but highly capable Indian batting lineup twice.
Perhaps this is why England have picked tall, hit-the-deck bowlers in Carse and Tongue in the XI, and Overton in the squad. All three measure 6’3’’ or more and are expected to extract more from less helpful surfaces than the typical swing and seam bowlers that have historically done well in England.
Clarity of thought in India's selections
India’s previous tour to Australia was a tactical disasterclass. From playing two spinners on green pitches to packing the XI with all-rounders with the misplaced hope of covering all bases, India showed muddled thinking that eventually led to defeat - and a broken down Bumrah. Here, India again have a lot of crucial selection calls to make, including but not limited to who bats at three and six, and how to balance the lower order. While being adaptable is important, India will also need to show better clarity of thought in their calls, minimising batting order shuffles and maximising backing of players and plans among other things. If they don’t, they risk descending into chaos once again.
Initial indications from Gill’s pre-match press conference at Headingley have been promising. “Communication is very important, (we) want to give players security. Some players will get a long rope based on potential,” he said, along with “You can't win a Test match without picking up 20 wickets and for that if we have to go with pure bowlers, we are fine with it.”
To what extent he and India walk the talk, will determine how competitive this series will be.
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