The ECB has named England’s Playing 11 for the Headingley Test in India’s tour of England 2025, which marks Chris Woakes’s return.
The series marks the inauguration of the renamed Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy and kicks off the 2025-27 WTC cycle for both sides.
Veteran all-rounder Chris Woakes makes a return to the test team for the first time since December. Meanwhile, Durham pacer Brydon Carse has been added to his maiden home test after previously featuring in five away fixtures in Pakistan and New Zealand.
Meanwhile, Ollie Pope has returned to No.3 despite the race against 21 year old Jacob Bethell. Ollie Pope has a career Test averge of 35.49 over 56 matches. The average drops to 24.60 against India and a worrying 15.70 in five Ashes appearances.
Under England coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope has been consistent presence in the Test team. He even stepped in as captain for four tests last year when Stokes suffered a hamstring injury.
Bethell has been impressive on England’s New Zealand tour last winter and showed his talent again during the recent white-ball series against West Indies.
However, he opted to play the IPL with Royal Challengers Bengaluru instead of the recent Zimbabwe Test, where Pope staked claimed 171 runs. Jacob Bethell had impressed with three fifties against New Zealand last year including a career-best 96 from his modest three Test outings.
England Playing 11 for 1st Test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue and Shoaib Bashir.
