England will start their five-match Test series against India later this week as two of the best teams in the world clash.
This series will be fiery on and off the field, with India’s supporters famous for their global backing.
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England and India boast some of the world’s best Test players and Ben Stokes’ men will be looking for a series win to set them up for The Ashes later this year.
But a much-changed India will be looking to prove themselves on the biggest stage with the world watching.
England vs India: Date and how to follow
This opening Test of the series will get underway on Friday, June 20 and run until Tuesday, June 24.
It is being held at Headingley in Leeds and play will get underway at 11am each day.
For the first time ever, talkSPORT overseas listeners can tune into coverage of an England home Test series via the talkSPORT Cricket YouTube channel.
Our expert team taking you through ball-by-ball consists of England legend Steve Harmison, ex-New Zealand star Jeremy Coney and fans’ favourite David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd.
They will be joined by talkSPORT’s experts Jon Norman and Neil Manthorp.
Unfortunately, UK-based listeners can’t tune in, but talkSPORT.com will be right across all the action to keep you up to date.
The match will also be shown on Sky Sports Main Event and Cricket.
England vs India Test Series Fixtures
First Test: June 20-24, Headingley, Leeds – 11:00am
Second Test: July 2-6, Edgbaston, Birmingham – 11:00am
Third Test: July 10-14, Lord’s, London – 11:00am
Fourth Test: July 23-27, Old Trafford, Manchester – 11:00am
Fifth Test: July 31-August 4, The Oval, London – 11:00am
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England vs India: Team news
England have stuck with Ollie Pope at number three in their batting line-up to face India with Jacob Bethell missing out.
The home side are as expected elsewhere in the order, with pace bowlers Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse returning in place of Sam Cook and Gus Atkinson from the Zimbabwe Test.
England team to face India in first Test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.
For India, there is no Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma after the duo retired from this format of the game.
It marks the end of an era for India, with others now having to step up under the captaincy of Shubman Gill.
India’s squad: Shubman Gill (C), Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Prasidh Krishna, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant (WK), KL Rahul, Nitish Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Mohd. Siraj, Sai Sudharsan, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav
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England vs India: What has been said?
England’s Managing Director Rob Key can’t wait for some of the battles in this series.
He said: “I watch the young Indian players coming through. I believe that with the talent I see in white-ball cricket, even in the IPL, talented players can adapt much easier than people think.
“You don’t need to have played 50-100 red-ball games to be able to put your best foot forward in Test cricket. And those rivalries will emerge.
“Rishabh Pant and Jamie Smith, those two wicketkeepers that play in such a captivating style, have the ability to throw counter punches.
“You’ve got probably one of our best players, if not the best — Joe Root — against one of the best bowlers I’ve seen in Jasprit Bumrah. So that’s going to be a fascinating contest.”