Will rain play spoilsport in Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy opener? Check Leeds weather forecast for IND vs ENG 1st Test on Friday

Team India and England are set to commence their 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle by clashing in the first match of a five-Test series at Headingley, Leeds, starting on June 20. Given England's susceptibility to rain, it remains uncertain whether the weather will disrupt the first day of the match.

From Team India's viewpoint, this marks their first Test following the retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from the format, with Shubman Gill taking on the leadership role. The newly appointed Test captain is prepared to bat at number four in the opening match.

England faces its own set of challenges as the hosts will embark on their first home season in years without the presence of either James Anderson or Stuart Broad. Nevertheless, Ben Stokes has yet to lose a home Test series since assuming the captaincy, and he will be eager to uphold that record.

Weather report

Although the cloud cover is at 45 percent, the chance of precipitation is merely 4 percent on the first day, with the weather staying somewhat warm. The situation will remain unchanged in the afternoon, while the evening is expected to stay overcast, which will benefit the bowlers. Nevertheless, as rain is not anticipated, spectators will have the chance to enjoy a complete day's play.

Day 2 indicates a 66 percent chance of rain, with a few afternoon showers that could disrupt the match. On the third day, there is a 61 percent likelihood of rain, as the events may experience some rain and drizzle. The weather is expected to be partly cloudy.

On the fourth day of the match, the chance of rain drops to just 25 percent, whereas the final day of the event may see showers occurring at irregular intervals, with a rain probability of 64 percent.

Squads

England squad: Ben Stokes (C), Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Zak Crawley, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Chris Woakes,  Ollie Pope (WK), Jamie Smith (WK), Samuel James Cook, Brydon Carse, Shoaib Bashir, Josh Tongue and Jamie Overton.

India squad: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana.

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