With less than a year to go for India's bumper tour of the United Kingdom, the BCCI on Thursday announced the fixtures of the five-Test series. India will begin a near-two-month long tour with Test matches spread across London, Headingley, Birmingham and Manchester, marking the start of a fresh World Test Championship cycle. India are yet to win a Test series in England since 2007 - they came close three years ago in 2021 but it ended in a 2-2 draw. With Rohit Sharma having already conquered Australia and England at home, the India skipper eyes history as he gets ready to embark upon one of his stiffest challenges of his Test and captaincy career.

As usual, the matches in England will be held at five of their major Test centres. The series opener will be played at the Leeds Cricket Ground in Headingley from June 20 to 24. After a week-long gap, the action will to Birmingham's Edgbaston Cricket Ground from July 2 to 6. Four days later, the third Test will be played at the mecca of cricket, the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground in the heart of London before Manchester takes up hosting rights at the Old Trafford. The fifth and final match of the series will be played at The Oval in London from July 31 to August 4.

It is not yet known whether India will be taking part in any practice matches of sorts. Prior to the series, if qualified, India will be featuring in the final of the World Test Championship - likely to be scheduled just before the start of the series. India are currently leading the WTC standings with a win percentage of 68.51, higher than the second-placed Australia, although the reigning Test champions are ahead on points – 90 compared to 74. Rohit and Co. however, have played three Tests fewer, winning six out of nine.

Here is the full schedule:

India vs England 1st Test: June 20 to June 24

India vs England 2nd Test: July 2 to July 6

India vs England 3rd Test: July 10 to July 14

India vs England 4th Test: July 23 to July 27

India vs England 5th Test: July 31 to August 4

The last time India toured England, it was under Virat Kohli in 2021, with the team coming within striking distance of registering a series win in the UK after 14 years. After the first Test ended in a draw, with rain washing out the final day's play and India's chances of an early lead, the Men in Blue smashed England by 151 runs at Lord's. It was the same game where Kohli immortalised the '60 overs of hell' line and KL Rahul scored a memorable century. England roared back to pummel India by an innings and 76 runs at Leeds inside three days to level the series at Leeds, but Kohli's team didn't allow England to stay level for too long. At the Oval, Rohit Sharma scored a century – his first Test ton overseas – leading India to a 157-run thumping over Joe Root's unit.

Unfortunately though, despite being favourites going into the fifth Test, the decider in Manchester was postponed due to a Covid outbreak in both camps. The match was rescheduled to the following year, where England eventually won by 7 wickets at Edgbaston.

It wasn't too long ago that India and England did battle. The two teams engaged in a gruelling five-Test series earlier this year during February-March in which India secured a 4-1 come-from-behind win. Yashasvi Jaiswal emerged as the star of the show, scoring over 700 runs, including two double-centuries. The series also saw India hand Test debuts to as many as five youngsters - staring with Rajat Patidar to the likes of Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Akash Deep and Devdutt Padikkal, all four of whom made significant contributions through the course of two months.

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