'There Will Be Subplots': ECB Chief Executive Passes Big Remark On Upcoming IND vs ENG Test Series, Draws Parallels With Ashes

India vs England: The highly-anticipated IND vs ENG series starts on June 20, 2025, and the first Test match will be played in Headingley, Leeds. Whenever India and England play in a Test match, it is a sight to behold. The England series will also mark the start of India's campaign in the upcoming World Test Championship 2027 cycle. The England series will be a big challenge for the players of the Indian Test team, and they will like to start the series and WTC 2027 on a high.

Richard Gould Opens Up On The Importance Of IND vs ENG

India, England, and Australia are the big three of world cricket, and they mostly dictate the direction in which the sport moves. Cricket in England unfortunately did not resonate with their local audience last year, with the all-important Paris Olympics that took place last year. When the English team hosted Sri Lanka last year, there were a lot of empty seats in the stands. Now the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is looking at the IND vs ENG series as a means to pull the English audience into the stands.

'Last summer, there were all sorts of things happening all over the place, weren't there? I think that is one of the great things about a five-Test series: it is a proper long-read; it's something that people can get really into. There will be subplots, and sub-subplots. There will be all sorts of issues over that six-week period. We know how big it is. Particularly with the five-Test series, we're seeing more of those than we have done for a long time,' said ECB CEO Richard Gould, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo.

ALSO READ | Team India Ignores The Biggest Worry With Less Than 100 Hours To Go For First IND vs ENG Test, All Eyes On Gautam Gambhir And Shubman Gill

The ECB CEO also drew parallels of the IND vs ENG series with the Ashes and said that the upcoming five-match Test series against India is equally important.

ALSO READ | Harbhajan Singh Pinpoints Reason Why Shardul Thakur Has An Edge On Nitish Reddy In England Series, Wants Gautam Gambhir To Take Right Decision

ECB Bats For WTC Finals To Be Played in England

There has been plenty of chatter around the WTC final being played in England. In the past, ex-skipper of the Indian Test team, Rohit Sharma, said that the WTC finals should be moved out of England. The ECB CEO has now spoken about it and has said that, irrespective of whoever plays the summit clash of the World Test Championship, his board will somehow manage to sell it out.

ALSO READ | James Anderson Offers Surprising Take, Reveals Virat Kohli Posed A Tougher Test Than Sachin Tendulkar