England head coach Brendon McCullum stated that the young Indian Team under Shubman Gill will arrive with high optimism, but the former New Zealand captain remains extremely clear about the direction he wants for the Ben Stokes-led side as they prepare for the upcoming five-match Test series.
Both these teams will begin their new World Test Championship (WTC) Cycle 2025-27, starting on June 20 in Headingley. For the first time in a decade, India will be without stalwarts Virat Kohli, Ravi Ashwin, and Rohit Sharma. This a new-look young India squad, which sees two uncapped players earning their maiden call-ups - Arshdeep Singh and Sai Sudarshan.
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The batting bears a lot of inexperience, with players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sudarshan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Karun Nair, and Gill in it.
"It's important the guys refresh. We know where we want to get to as a Test team," McCullum told Sky Sports Cricket.
Brendon McCullum opens up about England's inexperienced bowling attack
Ahead of the start of the home summer, England were dealt with injury blows to Jofra Archer (first Test), Mark Wood (ruled out of entire home summer), and Gus Atkinson (recovering from hamstring strain). Chris Woakes bowled the most number of overs (32), picking up five wickets. Josh Tongue, who is likely to partner Woakes in the first Test chipped in with two wickets.
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"There are some quality bowlers unavailable, but we have a nice, varied attack with Chris Woakes, Sam Cook, Brydon Carse, Jamie Overton, and Josh Tongue providing the high-pace element.
"We also have Shoaib Bashir, who is growing in confidence with every Test. We know we're going to be tested against India, and they will arrive well-prepared.
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"They're an outstanding cricketing nation, they'll come here with high hopes, and we're looking forward to the contest."
