With India set to begin the daunting challenge of attempting to emerge victorious on English soil for the first time since 2007, the Shubman Gill-led side will be taking on hosts England in the first Test at the Headingley Cricket Ground.

As per Accuweather, the opening day of the Test on Friday will be the hottest of the five days, with the temperature expected to rise to 30 degrees Celsius. Although the temperature will remain pretty much the same on Saturday, strong winds will be coming in from the South direction at a speed of 17 kilometres per hour.

India has been drawn alongside Pakistan, Australia, South Africa and two yet to be known qualifying teams in Group 1 of the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup, set to be played from June 12 to July 5 in England.

The tenth edition of the tournament, running across 24 days, will open with hosts’ England taking on Sri Lanka at Edgbaston on June 12. Apart from Edgbaston, Hampshire Bowl, Headingley, Old Trafford, The Oval, Bristol County Ground and Lord’s are the other tournament venues. Edgbaston will also be the venue for India’s campaign opener against Pakistan on June 14, before playing against a qualifying team at Headingley on June 17.

India will face South Africa at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground on June 21, and then play against another qualifying team at the same venue on June 25. India’s group stage will come to an end with a high-stakes clash against multiple times champions Australia at the Lord’s Cricket Ground on June 28.

Former England batter Geoffrey Boycott believes that more than Rohit Sharma’s retirement, Virat Kohli’s absence is a devastating blow to India ahead of the starting five-match Test series in Leeds, saying that the right-handed batter was their key player.

Both Rohit and Kohli announced their retirement from Test cricket in May, leaving India with a big void to fill in the longer format at opening and number four positions respectively. Kohli, 36, scored 9,230 runs in 123 Tests and was at fourth place in India's all-time list of run-scorers in the longer format.

“The retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma hurts the chances of India beating England. Kohli is the biggest loss as he has been their best batsman and talisman in all three formats. With so much international cricket played by India, and so little rest, it takes its toll and the mind becomes fatigued.

England skipper and all-rounder Ben Stokes heaped praises on talismanic batter Virat Kohli, saying India will miss his "fighting spirit" when the two teams face-off in a five-match Test series, starting from June 20, adding that he will feel weird not seeing a number 18 jersey on the field.

Team India is taking up the big challenge of a five-Test tour without players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, both of whom have announced their retirement from Test cricket just before the tour. The Indian team will be led by a new face, Shubman Gill, after the India stalwarts announced their retirement from Test cricket last month.

In a video released by England Cricket on their Instagram, Stokes said, "I think what India will miss will be his fighting spirit out in the game, his competitiveness, desire to win. He has made number 18 his, hasn’t he? It’ll be a bit weird not seeing number 18 on the back of anyone… of any Indian shirt, but he has been class for them for a long period of time."

India all-rounder Shardul Thakur believes that the touring Indian squad has the potential to win the upcoming five-match Test series against England starting in Leeds from Friday.

Shardul was part of India's squad that toured England last time in 2021-22. India were 2-1 up in the five-Test series before the final Test of the series was rescheduled to next year due to Covid-19. India lost the final Test - in the absence of the regular captain Rohit Sharma - as England levelled the series 2-2.

India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav is currently in London, for right-side sports hernia treatment and is expected to be sidelined for a few weeks, says a report.

While the Indian Test team, led by Shubman Gill, is gearing up for the five-match series against England, the 34-year-old white-ball maestro is utilising the current break in India’s limited-overs schedule to focus on his recovery and long-term fitness.

According to News24, Suryakumar's treatment will start next week and is expected to return to cricketing field by August.

After wrapping up the work on "Sardar Ji 3", Diljit Dosanjh has now joined the cast of "Border 2" for their third schedule of the film in Pune’s National Defence Academy.

Giving a fun sneak peek into the shoot diaries, the Punjabi singer and actor dropped a BTS video from the set on his official IG. The highlight of the post was Diljit's quirky English commentary.

The video opened with Diljit getting into the car and heading toward the set of the sequel. However, it was raining heavily on the way. Reacting to this, Diljit was heard saying, "It is very witty weather, it is drizzling."

Finally, as he reached the set, he said, "Sandese ate hain aur sandese jate ahain aur hum bhi aa gaye hain set pe."

Chilling on the set, Diljit was heard saying, "Because of witty weather shooting is delayed. Me enjoying the weather."

Former Indian players Harbhajan Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina and Robin Uthappa are all set to feature in the Super60 USA Legends Tournament, scheduled to take place from August 5 to 16.

Harbhajan and Raina, who had been a part of India’s ODI World Cup-winning team in 2011, Uthappa who featured in the Indian side that lifted the inaugural 2007 T20 World Cup and Dhawan, who played a massive role for Men in Blue’s Champions Trophy triumph in 2013, expressed delight on being part of this competition.

Talking about his participation and the format, the legendary off-spinner said, “I'm thrilled to be part of the Super60 USA Legends Tournament. It’s a unique and distinguished format that promises to bring a fresh perspective to the game. With the involvement of international legends, this tournament is a big step toward popularising cricket in this part of the world.”

Chelsea star Pedro Neto reflected on his goalscoring display in 2-0 FIFA Club World Cup win over Los Angeles FC and credited Nicolas Jackson’s pass for the opening goal.

Jackson playing a perfectly weighted ball into Neto, who cut to his left and finished with aplomb past Hugo Lloris for the opener. The goal set Chelsea on their way to a 2-0 victory in their tournament opener against LAFC in Atlanta.

“I feel very good. I have had some adaptations in the team. I’ve played in a lot of positions. It’s my first year with the club, so there is a lot of adaptation there as well. I’m really happy with the way I’m performing at the moment. I hope to continue in this way," Neto, who has completed his move to Chelsea from Wolves last year, told FIFA.

The Indian men's hockey team suffered another heartbreak as they slumped to defeat despite taking a 2-0 lead as the Kookaburras bounced back to prevail 3-2 in the ongoing FIH Hockey Pro League 2024/25 here in Antwerp on Saturday.

Following four successive narrow losses in the European leg, the Indian team, sans their captain Harmanpreet Singh, had a dream start against Australia until they floundered in the final quarter, allowing their opponents to come back. It was goals by Nathan Ephraums (42'), Joel Rintala (56'), and Tom Craig (60') that put Australia ahead, while Abhishek (8', 35') scored a double for India.

It was an entertaining opening quarter with India taking the lead as early as the eighth minute of the game. The initial few minutes saw both teams trade chances in the circles until a perfect pass from the midfield by Manpreet Singh, who is on 399 international caps, to Abhishek positioned at the top of the circle fetched India a crucial 1-0 lead.