India tour of England 2025: No Anderson and Broad make life easier for Rishabh Pant
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "India tour of England 2025: No Anderson and Broad make life easier for Rishabh Pant")
ENG vs IND 2025 No Anderson and Broad makes life easier for Rishabh Pant Photograph: (Others)
While Broad departed earlier following the 2023 home Ashes, Anderson said goodbye to Test cricket after the first Test against the West Indies last year.
James Anderson and Stuart Broad perhaps made the best new-ball duo in Test cricket history, having collected over 1200 wickets between them in this format. Having dominated the red-ball scene for close to two decades, both announced their retirements in the past two years. While Broad departed earlier following the 2023 home Ashes, Anderson said goodbye to Test cricket after the first Test against the West Indies last year. Meanwhile, for Rishabh Pant, the newly-appointed vice-captain of the Indian Test team, not having to face this duo comes as a massive relief for him and the team ahead of the Test series.
India and England will face off at Headingley in Leeds for the first Test starting Friday (June 20), and Pant had plenty to say ahead of the series opener. While he addressed several topics in his media interaction on Wednesday (June 18), Pant talked about feeling relieved over not facing the pace duo of Anderson and Broad in the upcoming series.
Also read | ENG vs IND 2025: Green track at Headingley worries India but hot conditions could make them feel at home
Speaking in the highest regard for them, considering their role and impact on cricket, especially in Tests, Pant said, “Definitely, it feels so good when both (Anderson and Broad) are not there. Because coming from the last two tours, they've been there for England for so many years, and I've only come for two tours. But at the same time, they have enough ammunition as an England bowling line-up,” Pant said in the pre-match press conference.
“We don't want to take anyone lightly because our team is also young. They're still looking to develop themselves. But at the same time, we've got to play our cricket and respect the bowlers and opposition where it needs it,” Pant continued.
Life beyond Anderson-Broad
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Like how India is preparing for a life beyond their batting stalwarts, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who announced their Test retirements last month, England has somewhat done the same following the exits of their pace heroes.
On one hand, India has brought in some young guns to fill in for their batting giants, England has picked three seamers - Chris Woakes, Josh Tongue and Brydon Carse, for the series opener, alongside just one spinner, Shoaib Bashir for the first game.
India, however, hasn’t named their playing XI for the Leeds Test.
