India's predicted starting XI against England in first test match

Middle-order: Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane

Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane would be looking to

Cheteshwar Pujara is unarguably one of the best batsmen in Test match cricket at present. He has been a force to reckon with at sub-continent but he has never been able to replicate those performances outside it.

He has scored 4531 runs in 97 innings at an average of 50.34. At England, he has scored 222 runs in 10 innings. He was in woeful form while playing for Yorkshire in county cricket and hopefully he has learnt his mistakes and will rectify those.

Virat Kohli will go down as one of the greats of modern cricket. He scores runs with ease and it is virtually impossible to get him out. He has scored runs all over the world in Test matches but has struggled while playing at England.

At England, he has scored a paltry 134 runs in 10 innings. He has scored 5554 runs in 112 innings at an average of 53.4 in his entire. He will look to improve his stats in England and make sure that he has conquered every single place.

Ajinkya Rahane has been going through a rough patch of late. He has struggled for form and runs have been hard to come by for him. However, he will now play at England and he relishes any venue outside the sub-continent.

He scored a match-winning 100 at Lord's to help India to a win. He has scored 2893 runs in 76 innings at an average of 43.17. At England, he has scored 300 runs in 10 innings at an average of 33.22.