England vs India 2018: India-England Combined Test XI

The much anticipated England-India Test series is about to start and would be the decider in of tour as India and England winning the T20 and ODI series respectively. India's current generation has not won a Test series in England in recent years and would be motivated to justify their number 1 ranking. Each team boasts of players of tremendous caliber, but here is my combined XI of England and India for the upcoming Test series.

---

Openers

Alastair Cook

Cook is the most capped English Test player

As England's all-time top run scorer in Test matches, Alastair Cook's inclusion into the XI is a no-brainer. At the age of 33, he might not be enjoying the best of his forms, but scoring 180 against India A recently will certainly boost his confidence. Unless Indian seamers deal with him early in the innings, his knack of getting 100s might prove to be a costly affair for the visiting team.

Murali Vijay

Vijay's gritty defense would hold key to India's start

Indian team would need a solid start at the beginning of the innings and who better to do the job other than the guy who faced 1000+ plus balls last time India toured England. He would be facing Englands's two most dangerous strike bowlers and his gritty batting nature might just be the perfect way to counter. He averaged around 40 last time India toured England and Virat & co would be hoping that Vijay builds on that experience.

Middle-Order

Joe Root

Root is arguably England's best player of spin

This was a close call between Cheteswar Pujara and Joe Root. However taking current form into account, Joe Root makes the playing 11. His only challenge is to convert starts into big scores, which he has been failing to do as he has converted only 3 out of 23 fifties into hundreds. He scored a century in the ODI series decider and would be hoping to carry the same form into the Tests.

Virat Kohli(Captain)

Virat would be looking to improve his record in England

Already considered as one of the modern-day greats, it's practically impossible to leave Virat Kohli out of any team. His run tally of 134 runs during India's last tour of England would surely be haunting him. If Kohli gets going, India's would be a force to reckon with if it's already not.

Ajinkya Rahane

Rahane has a habit of scoring Tons in the most difficult of situations

Ajinkya Rahane gets an entry into this line-up ahead of Jonny Bairstow because he reaches another level when it comes to overseas tours. He averages 52.05 away from home, which is the best in the world. His form has been slightly off the track lately, but the team management would surely back him up.

The All-rounder & Wicket-keeper

Ben Stokes(All-rounder)

Stoke's role will be crucial with both Bat and Ball

The allrounder role is of utmost importance in any form of cricket and it has been pretty even battle between Ben Stokes and Hardik Pandya for the role. In this even battle, Ben Stokes shines through in the end just because the Test matches are going to be played in his home soil and he is a slightly better batsman for those conditions. It would easily have gone the other way had the matches were getting played in India. Though he has not reached his peak post his comeback, he would certainly play a crucial role in the outcome of the series.

Jos Buttler(Wicket-keeper)

Jos Buttler would be key to England's plan to tackle spin

Let's face it! If anyone got benefited from IPL 2018, it was Jos Buttler. He has carried his fine IPL form into the Pakistan Test series and would be expected to do more of the same in this series. His attacking intent adds a different flavor to England's batting line-up and would be crucial to their plans of tackling spin.

Spinners

Ravichandran Ashwin

Ashwin would be a major threat to the left-handers in England line-up

He might just be the best Test spinner of the current era. His consistent all-round performances played a major role in India's success at home and he would be looking to improve his mediocre overseas record. Irrespective of statistics, one can't just leave Ashwin out of the team especially considering his last county stint at Worcestershire.

Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav could well be India's trump card in the series

He has been having the time of his life in England. After he bamboozled the English players in the T20 and ODI series, he is the player to watch out for in this series. English players were not reading him very well and considering the fact pitches in England would be dry after a long summer, he might be X-Factor that decides the series.

Fast Bowlers

James Anderson & Stuart Broad

The lethal English duo

How many teams in the world have the opportunity to play their highest and second highest wicket-taker in the same team? Having 957 Test wicket between themselves, James Anderson & Stuart Broad would be strike bowlers of the combined XI.

Anderson has always been a genius of swing bowling and Broad has come a long way from the Yuvraj incident. They are probably England's strongest hope of containing the Indian line-up. Should they get going, it is going to very tough for the visitors.

Twelveth Man

Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya would be looking to cement his role in the Test team

Hardik Pandya was pretty unlucky to miss out on the XI. However, his evolution has been nothing short of a fairy tale and he would be crucial for India's chances in England.