What should be the Indian Test XI going forward

India are the world number one Test team, a statement which many will refuse to agree with after seeing the performances of the Indian players in the first two Test matches against England, which they lost by 31 runs and followed it up with a loss by an innings and -- runs.

More than the defeat, the players, especially the batsmen were clueless against the English bowlers. The selectors should take a bold call, act wisely and drop the non-performing players and bring in some players, who can add some value to the team.

The India A team that is playing South Africa has some exciting prospects who can do well in Tests. The selectors should give them a call-up and see how they perform at the top level. Even if they fail, that is fine but there is no hope in just continuing with batsmen who are clueless instead of trying out some new names and see how they go about their job.

Let us take a look at how the Indian XI should be in Tests going forward.

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Openers - Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw

Prithvi Shaw

Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul, all three openers in the Test series against England have failed to prove themselves in testing conditions. Dhawan managed to score 26 and 13 in the first Test before he was dropped for the second.

Murali Vijay, on the other hand, scored 20 and six in the first Test and got out for a pair (zero in both the innings) in the second. It will be really surprising if he plays the next Test, especially given the way how the team management is making decisions when it comes to picking the XI.

Rahul also has looked clueless in the series so far as he has registered scored of 4, 13, 8 and 10. Dhawan scoring more runs in one Test than the other two batsmen in two Test matches shows the quality of Indian openers in England.

The selectors should take some bold calls if they want the team to do well in the format away from home. The likes of Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw have been scoring tons and tons of runs for India A and if the selectors are not rewarding the consistent performers in the domestic circuit and keep persisting with batsmen, who are clearly off-colour, then playing domestic cricket is of no use.

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

Cheteshwar Pujara

It came as a shock to everyone when Cheteshwar Pujara was left out of the Indian side for the first Test and India eventually went on to lose it by 31 runs. He was brought into the side for the second Test and showed some resistance in the second innings. A batsman like Pujara should always be a part of the Test team as he has the ability to burn out the bat and make scoring easier, something the others in the side cannot do.

Virat Kohli is the only performing player in the side and he cannot be dropped from the side even if he is half fit.

Ajinkya Rahane has been India's most dependable batsmen away from home but ever since coming back after he was dropped from the side in South Africa, he is not the same old Rahane. He scored a crucial 40-odd in the second innings but has completely looked out of sorts in England, where he has registered scores of 15, 2, 18 and 13.

Hanuma Vihari

One of the main reasons why the Indian team was successful in the early 2000s was the presence of a crisis man in VVS Laxman coming in to bat at number six. The current team does not have anyone doing the role Laxman did to perfection in the past. Instead of playing musical chairs with the position, the team management should bring in a frontline batsman to bat at that position.

Hanuma Vihari has been a consistent performer in the domestic circuit and has the technique and temperament to survive in Test cricket. It won't be a bad idea to give him a run at number six instead of sending in different batsmen in every other innings.

Wicketkeeper: Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant

Wriddhiman Saha is injured and his replacement, Dinesh Karthik has failed big time in England with scores of 0, 20, 1 and 0 in the four innings he has played so far. Adding to his failure with the bat, his wicketkeeping has not been impressive.

This is the right time for the selectors to look beyond what they have now and invest in future. Rishabh Pant has been the second-choice wicketkeeper in England in the absence of Saha and playing him in the XI can be a good move. He has started to play according to the conditions and when needed, he can take the bowlers to the cleaners.

It won't be a surprise if he makes his Test debut in the third Test between India and England at Trent Bridge.

All-rounders: Bhuvneshwar Kumar and R Ashwin

R Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar

In spite of all the Kuldeep Yadav hype of late, Ravichandran Ashwin is easily India's number 1 Test spinner and he has proved it in the first Test at Edgbaston. He is unlikely to be dropped from the side in the near future. Adding to his bowling abilities, Ashwin is a handy batsman who has scored runs down the order for India on a consistent basis. Some of the shots he plays will show that he was an opening batsman, who became a spin bowler. Ashwin playing as an all-rounder ahead of Hardik Pandya will help the team accommodate an extra frontline fast bowler (if they play in seamer-friendly conditions) or an extra spinner (if India play at home or in spinner-friendly conditions).

The Indian team are really missing Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the all-rounder badly in England more than anyone else. With Bhuvneshwar in the side, they had a bowler, who can swing the new ball both the ways and trouble the batsman and with the bat, he has a better technique than most of the batsmen in the playing XI. He might not score centuries on a consistent basis, but he is good enough to score 40-odds every now and then, something that can be considered as a gold dust from a batsman who is coming in at number 8.

In spite of Hardik Pandya's valiant efforts with the bat, the Baroda all-rounder will have to miss out from the XI because of the presence of two two-dimensional players.

Fast bowlers: Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah

Ishant Sharma

With Bhuvneshwar Kumar already in the XI, the two other fast bowlers (if the team is playing in seamer-friendly conditions) will be a toss-up between Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah.

All four bowlers deserve to be a part of the Indian Test line-up as every one of them can be a match-winner for India on their days. It is very difficult to pick and choose two bowlers but if you have to do that, Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah should get the nod ahead of the other two bowlers.

Ishant has been a completely different bowler since his county stint with Surrey while Bumrah can be very lethal with the red ball, something he has shown us in South Africa. Having four capable bowlers should help the team management as they can manage the workload of all the bowlers and keep rotating them in matches.