After whitewashing New Zealand 3-0, Virat Kohli and his men will look to take revenge against England for their 1-2 series win in India in 2012. The upcoming five-match Test series between India and England is one of the most anticipated series in 2016 as both the teams are in stunning form since the start of 2015.
England come into this series after being held 1-1 by Bangladesh and with conditions in India expected to be similar to that of their neighbours, the visitors will have their task cut out to make the series competitive. Their recent form won’t make the Indian team management take the Poms lightly as there are players who can take the game away from India single-handedly.
With the Indian squad out and few of the regular starters missing, the team management will have their task cut out in picking the right combination going into the series. Let us take a look at the possible Indian team which will line-up when they take on England in the first test at Rajkot.
Squad: Virat Kohli (c), Gautam Gambhir, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Karun Nair, Umesh Yadav, Amit Mishra, Hardik Pandya,
Openers
Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul and Gautam Gambhir - these are the four names that were competing for the two openers’ slot before the New Zealand series. In a space of one month, only two of these four names are available to face England.
In the Test series against New Zealand, all three openers got a chance to open with Vijay and Rahul was the one who impressed the most. A hamstring injury to KL Rahul in the first Test gave Dhawan a chance to play in the second before the Delhi left-hander made way for another in Gambhir in the third test as he was forced to miss the final Test due to a thumb injury.
Unfortunately, both Dhawan and Rahul are not included in the Indian squad for the first two Tests as they are yet to regain full fitness. This makes Vijay and Gambhir as the two openers in the squad and it is certain that these two will open for India in the series against England.
Middle order batsmen
Before the series against New Zealand, the place of Cheteshwar Pujara in the Indian Test XI was under scrutiny. But, Pujara continued his stunning form from the Duleep trophy to the international stage as he scored tons of runs against the Kiwis and ended the series as the leading run scorer. His heroics in the series might just have sealed his place in the Test XI for the upcoming Test series against England and Australia.
Apart from Pujara, skipper Virat Kohli, his deputy Ajinkya Rahane and wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha are certainties in India’s middle order, unless they are ruled out of the series due to an injury. Now that Rohit Sharma is ruled out due to an injury, it will be interesting to see what the team management does to the number 6 slot.
If the team management decides to go in with 7 batsmen and 4 front-line bowlers, then Karun Nair will make his Test debut. If they opt for an extra bowling option, Hardik Pandya might get the nod ahead of Karun to make his Test debut. If Pandya is picked, Ashwin is likely to bat at no. 6 followed by Saha and Pandya.
The inclusion of Pandya in the squad allows Kohli to go in with an extra bowler, who can bowl few overs when needed.
Spinners
This is yet another area where the Indian team management will have a big headache in picking the right names. The no. 1 Test spinner, R Ashwin is the best when it comes to bowling on sub-continent tracks, as he has taken a lot of wickets in this part of the world. He is a certainty in the playing XI and will lead India’s bowling against the Poms. The spinner to bowl in tandem with him is a spot which is up for grabs.
The spinners who are in the fray to accompany Ashwin are all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and leggie Amit Mishra. If the team management decides to go in with a 6-5 combination, both Mishra and Jadeja will play.
If only four bowlers (two spinners and two pacers) are chosen to play, then Mishra might make way for Jadeja in spite of having a stunning ODI series against New Zealand. With the English batsmen have the tendency to struggle against the spinners, it won’t be a surprise if Kohli decides to go in with all the three spinners and only one pacer with Pandya providing few overs as a pacer bowling all-rounder.
Pacers
India won’t field more than two pacers in the playing XI and it is still unsure who will take care of the new ball in one of the most anticipated series of 2016. Spearhead Ishant Sharma is back in contention after missing the Test series against New Zealand due to chikungunya.
In his absence, Mohammad Shami led the pace attack and was consistent throughout the series. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who came into the playing XI for the second Test, bowled a match-winning spell before he was ruled out of the third Test match due to an injury. Just like Rahul and Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar is still nursing an ankle injury and is likely to miss the Rajkot Test.
It is highly unlikely that Kohli will see beyond Shami for the role of the pace spearhead in the series against England and Ishant might just pip Umesh Yadav for a place in the playing XI. As was mentioned earlier, it won’t be a surprise if Kohli decides to go in with all the three spinners and only one pacer in Mohammad Shami with Pandya as the second pacer.
The final line-up
A lot depends on the team combination in choosing the 11 to place against England on the first Test. Nine out of the 11 spots are already occupied, with Karun Nair, Ishant Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Amit Mishra fighting for the remaining two spots.
After a decent ODI series against the Kiwis, it will be unfair on the team management not to pick Pandya. He also provides the team a much-needed stability as he is capable of scoring runs down the order and can give the captain few bowlers to bowl when needed. Pandya’s inclusion also allows the team management to go in with Amit Mishra as the third spinner.
Probable Playing XI: Gautam Gambhir, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, R Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra and Mohammad Shami.
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