IND vs ENG: Rahul, Jasiwal start off Headingley Test with HISTORIC milestone last achieved in 1986

The first India vs England Test is underway at Headingley with already great signs visible for the Shuman Gill's relatively inexperienced batters. Batting first after losing the toss, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul opened the batting for India and added 52 runs for the opening wicket in the first 15 overs. This is only the second time in India's history of touring England for Tests that they have crossed 50-run mark for the opening wicket at Headingley. The only other time Indian openers crossed 50-run mark for opening wicket in Leeds was back in 1986 with Sunil Gavaskar and Kris Srikkanth adding 64 runs.

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Notably, India went on to win that Test in 1986, second of the series, and the series as well having won the first Test already. The series win in 1986 - only second in Tests for India in England ever - came under 1983 ODI World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev. The other two times India won a Test series in England was in 1971 (under Ajit Wadekar) and 2007 (under Rahul Dravid).

By 20th over, the openers had crossed the previous highest opening partnership mark when Rahul hit a sumptuous four off Ben Stokes.

Rahul and Jaiswal's partnership ended when the former chased a wide full ball only to be caught at the slips off Brydon Carse. The duo, however, added 91 runs - the highest opening partnership for India at Headingley.

Earlier, India handed a Test debut to Sai Sudharsan after a bumper season in IPL 2025 where he ended with Orange Cap for most runs in the tournament while playing for Gujarat Titans. They also offered a place to Karun Nair who is returning to India set up after an eight-year hiatus.

India Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Sai Sudharsan, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj

England Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir