Leeds pitch curator opens up about England having good surface to tackle the Indian lineup

The unusually dry weather here, combined with England’s aggressive style of play, has increased expectations of a “good surface” for the opening Test against India beginning on Friday, Leeds head of grounds Richard Robinson has said.

Leeds usually hosts a Test in the middle of a series but staging of the opening game has attracted a lot more attention.

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“They (England) just want to have a good surface so it’s true, really, so we can hit through the line of the ball. That’s really what they’re looking for,” Richard Robsinon, head of grounds at Leeds, was quoted as saying by ‘ESPNCricinfo’.

Robinson expects the pitch to aid the fast bowlers on the opening day before flattening out due to the expected heat.

A batting surface would not only suit England’s Bazball, it would also bring the inexperienced Indian batting line-up much more into the contest.

Following the retirement of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, K L Rahul will be the senior-most in the Indian side led by Shubman Gill, who will have a point to prove considering his ordinary record in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) countries.

The line-up also includes Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is on his maiden tour of England with the senior team, and Karun Nair, who last played a Test in 2017.

While India arrived here on Monday, England had a training session at Headingley where the surface remained covered during the day.

India have not played here a lot over the last two decades.

They suffered an innings defeat in 2021 and in their previous outing in 2002, they registered a famous victory.

The Venues and schedule for the whole series:
1) First Test: June 20-24, Headingley (Leeds)
2) Second Test: July 2-6, Edgbaston (Birmingham)
3) Third Test: July 10-14, Lord’s (London)4)
4) Fourth Test, July 23-27, Old Trafford (Manchester)
5)Fifth Test: July 31- August 4, The Oval (London)

Indian squad for England tour:
Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (VC/wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudarshan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav