IND vs ENG 2021: Wasim Jaffer picks India's playing XI for the first Test, leaves out Siraj and Vihari

Former India Test opener Wasim Jaffer has named his choice of players for India's playing XI for the first Test against England, which begins on Wednesday (August 4). He ignored the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Hanuma Vihari in the side and chose KL Rahul as the opening partner of Rohit Sharma in the absence of Mayank Agarwal.

While speaking on his official YouTube channel, Wasim Jaffer opined that India have a couple of selection dilemmas ahead of the first Test. He said:

"There could be few issues regarding team selection. Whether to play Siraj or Hanuma Vihari or whether to go with two spinners. It all depends on the pitch. There could be a question mark on the third seamer's spot. Bumrah, Ishant, and Shami will play, or Siraj will play in place of someone. It's going to be an interesting selection."

"If one spinner does not play, then we could see either Vihari or KL Rahul playing. KL Rahul scored a hundred in the practice game. So he will be a strong contender. And he can give balance and options to the side as an opener or a middle-order batter too. Overall, I feel we are going in with a very strong playing XI in this Test match," Jaffer added.

Wasim Jaffer's playing XI: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah

My Playing XI for the first test🤓 #ENGvIND #decode pic.twitter.com/nFohm9cUpD

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) August 2, 2021

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The challenge for Team India is to put a big score on the board: Wasim Jaffer

Wasim Jaffer also stressed the importance of putting runs on the board in Test matches in England and elsewhere in the world. He further explained that if the batsmen post 350-400 totals on the board, India has a potent bowling attack that can take 20 wickets consistently and win them games.

"In the WTC final and even in the series in 2014 and 2018, the one problem we had was not posting big totals on the board consistently. So I feel this will be a challenge for the Indian batters this time, right from openers to Cheteshwar Pujara to Ajinkya Rahane and definitely Virat Kohli, who is the backbone of this team. The whole batting unit needs to take responsibility," he added.

"Because if we can post 350-400 runs consistently, we have the bowling attack to take 20 wickets. But the challenge is to put a big score on the board. It will be an exciting series for sure," said Jaffer.