IND vs ENG, 1st Test: Can Shubman Gill’s India break the 23-year-long Headingley jinx

The much-awaited Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy, a five-match Test series between India and England, kicks off on Friday (Jun 20) at Headingley in Leeds. It promises to be a high-octane series between the two top sides.

For India, this series marks the beginning of a new era in Test cricket as Shubman Gill takes command of the Indian team after retirement of senior players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravi Ashwin. It’s a big moment for Gill and Indian cricket as they look to rebuild the team with young blood.

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The first challenge?

The first challenge for Gill will be to secure a victory at Headingley, a venue where India haven't tasted success in the past 23 years. Their last triumph there was back in 2002 under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly, when Sachin Tendulkar narrowly missed scoring a double-century by just seven runs. Notably, England have dominated this venue since 2017, winning their last five Test matches.

A win for Gill in his first Test match as captain would be significant, marking India's return to success after 23 years and ending England's streak of five consecutive Test victories at Headingley.

One of the most talked-about topics ahead of the match is the toss. Headingley is known for its challenging conditions, especially early on, and many teams believe winning the toss gives them an edge. But does it?

The stats say otherwise - in the last 10 Tests at Headingley, no overseas team has managed to win the game after winning the toss. New Zealand won the toss in 2022 but lost the match. India did the same in 2021 and suffered a defeat. Pakistan in 2018 and Sri Lanka in 2016 also had the same result: winning the toss and losing the match.

The last time an overseas team won both the toss and the game here was South Africa in 2008.

There’s more data to dig deep - in the past six Tests at Headingley, the team that bowled first ended up winning the match every single time.

This means batting first hasn’t worked well at this ground recently. So, going by recent records, India might benefit by losing the toss and getting a chance to bowl first.

With a fresh squad and a new leader, Team India will be hoping to start the series with a bang and finally end their Headingley drought.