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In the last couple of years, the Indian Test team is on an invincible run as they have brushed aside all their opponents whenever they took the field. It should be noted that since the Sri Lankan tour in 2015, India have played most of their matches in India and were almost unbeatable in the period.
Virat Kohli's men played 17 matches in the period at home and managed to win 13 of them, drawing three, out of which one had just one day's play possible and the Indian bowlers had already dismissed South Africa for a low score in the first innings. Their only loss came against Australia in Pune earlier this year. In the same period, the world no. 1 Test side also played seven matches outside India and managed to win five of them.
What makes them so special at home?
They have all their bases covered and have two of the best spinners at the moment in their side. Adding to this, their fast bowlers have been doing a brilliant job and their batsmen are coming off age and are scoring runs on a consistent basis.
Even the world's best Test teams struggled to put India under pressure. South Africa, New Zealand, England and even Australia tried their luck at dethroning India at home. But, all they could manage was just one win in 17 matches.
With all these teams failing to do the job as a unit, what about a World XI team with all the best players around the globe (like the World XI that took on Australia in 2005-06) playing for one team take on the mighty Indians at home in a Test match/series? Can they do the impossible?
Who all will feature in the World XI side that will take on India if the dream battle takes place in the near future?
Openers
In spite of scoring just 4 centuries in his last 98 innings, Alastair Cook is still the best Test opener, who can bat well irrespective of the conditions.
Cook has the knack of doing well in India and hardly struggled against the Indian spinners in his first two tours to the country and in his third, he was better than most of the batsmen in the series with 369 runs at an average of 37.
So, the former English captain is an automatic choice to open the batting. The role of his opening partner, though, was a tough choice as it had two of the World's best competing against each other.
Australian opener David Warner has been a revelation for his team in this format over the last few months, but the left-hander hardly gave the Indian spinners a run for their money when he toured India in the past. Also, his performances have not been convincing outside Australia and this puts him out of contention for a place in the XI.
The batsman who will be accompanying Cook at the top of the order will be Pakistan's Azhar Ali. Though Azhar is yet to play a Test against India or in India, he has been impressive for the Men in Green in the longer format irrespective of where his team has played in the last few years.
Azhar, who is one of the most under-appreciated Test batsmen at the moment, has scored runs all over the World and is ranked seventh in the ICC Test rankings. He also has a solid technique against spin and given that he has played most of his matches in the conditions that are similar to the ones a player gets in India, he will be a valuable player for this team.
Players considered for this position: Alistair Cook, David Warner and Azhar Ali.
Middle order
After the fall of the first wicket, former South African skipper Hashim Amla will walk out to bat. The right-hander is one of the most complete batsmen going around at the moment and has a game to succeed all over the World. Though he has been far from his best in the last couple of years, his dominance against India, especially in India, has been astonishing as he averages a 63 in the country.
Amla, who has the ability to play long innings and tire the opposition bowlers, just pipped Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson to get the nod to bat at number three in this team.
Following Amla will be Australian skipper Steve Smith, who was the Kangaroos' only bright spot when his team toured India earlier this year. His century on a rank-turner in Pune helped the Aussies become the first team to beat Virat Kohli's India in a Test match at home.
Adding to this, he has an affinity towards the Indian bowling attack and that makes him an automatic selection to feature in the XI.
England captain Joe Root completes the middle order as he edges Pakistan batsman Asad Shafiq for a place in the XI. Root, the world no. 2 batsman in this format, has an impressive record against India and was hardly tested when England toured India in 2016, a time when India's spin twins R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were at their peak.
So, there is no doubt why Root should not be included in the World XI that will take on India in India.
Players considered for this position: Hashim Amla, Joe Root, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson and Asad Shafiq
Wicketkeeper
There are a lot of options for the role of wicketkeeper, who will also bat at number 7. The modern-day game demands a gloveman, who is also capable of contributing with the bat and almost all the teams have one who is good in both the departments.
Pakistan's Sarfaraz Ahmed and New Zealand's Bradley-John Watling are two of the most underrated wicketkeeper-bats at the moment. They are hardly given credits for their brilliance with both bat and gloves.
Sarfaraz, who likes to go after the bowling, averages 41 with the bat and has been doing a fantastic job behind the stumps for Pakistan. His runs down the order have been crucial for his team of late and that had gone on to make a difference on several occasions.
Watling, on the other hand, is completely contrasting from Sarfaraz as he likes to play a long innings for his team and has been decent behind the stumps. These two are so unlucky that they are not even close to South Africa's Quinton de Kock and England's Jonny Bairstow when it comes to WKBs.
Both Bairstow and de Kock have set the standards so high that even India's Wriddhiman Saha is not close to them in this format.
In spite of not having a proper role in the South African XI, de Kock has played many match-changing knocks in his short career and has inspired his team to victory. As a wicketkeeper, de Kock is a safe bet and does the job for the team on most occasions. He is the closest one can get to Adam Gilchrist with the bat in this format.
Bairstow has been the best wicketkeeper-batsman going around at the moment as he has amassed 1800 runs at an average of over 50 since the start of 2016. His 1470 runs in 2016 are most by any WKB in a calendar year in the history of the sport. With the gloves, he has been improved a lot in the last couple of years as he effected 70 dismissals in 2016 and added 17 more to the tally in the four matches played this year.
Going by current form, Bairstow is chosen ahead of de Kock to don the glove for the World XI team.
Players considered for this role: Sarfaraz Ahmed, BJ Watling, Jonny Bairstow and Quinton de Kock.
All-rounders
Two of the best all-rounders in the longer format are from India. Both R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have been sensational with both bat and ball over the last few months. The closest to them in this role are Bangladesh's Shakib-al-Hasan and England duo of Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali.
Having a player like Ben Stokes is a blessing in disguise for any captain irrespective of the format as the Durham lad has been doing well with both bat and ball over the last couple of years. Coming in at number 6, Stokes is capable of playing of playing according to the situation and is very dangerous when he is batting with the tailenders and counter-attacking.
With the ball, he could be the perfect third seamer and has the knack of picking some crucial wickets when needed. He is one of the main reasons why England are a very good Test side at the moment as he brings in the much-needed balance to the team.
Alongside Stokes will be his teammate Moeen Ali, who has been phenomenal as a bowler in the last three years. Ali started his career with the Poms as a frontline batsman and the series against India at home gave him a breakthrough as a bowler. The left-hander did really well with both bat and ball when he toured India last year and has raised his game with the ball since then.
Coming in at number 8, he is more than handy with the bat and has the ability to score some quick runs with the tail. He might not be as threatening as Ashwin or Jadeja, but, somehow, he manages to pose a threat with the ball and get the better off the opposition batsman.
Players considered for this role: Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes and Shakib-al-Hasan.
Spinner
Irrespective of the team, spinners are the most crucial part of a squad for a Test series in India as the wickets in the country assist them more than the pacers. It is no secret why India has always produced high-quality spinners. They play an important role if their team want to get all the 20 wickets to win the Test.
Over the years, even the world's best have struggled against the Indian batsman in India as the local batsmen are known to be the best players of spin. So, taking 20 Indian wickets in India is not an easy task. The opposition bowlers, especially the spinners, will have their task cut out and should be prepared to bowl a lot of overs to get the job done.
With Moeen Ali already in the XI as the second spinner, there are few bowlers who are in competition to be the frontline spinner in the XI. Among them, Yasir Shah and Rangana Herath are the ones who are shortlisted for the role.
Both are doing a fantastic job for their countries in the longer format. In spite of his exploits with the ball, Herath misses out of the XI as Yasir is one spinner who can be equally dangerous as both Ashwin and Jadeja. Yasir might not feature in the top 10 Test bowlers because Pakistan does not play Test cricket as often as India or England and most of his matches have been played in conditions that are alien to the spinners.
In spite of that, Yasir has done well in those conditions and stood tall. In fact, he is a better spinner than both Jadeja and Ashwin outside Asia. A lot of fans wanted to witness Yasir against the Indian batsmen when both India and Pakistan were supposed to face each other last year.
Unfortunately, that series never took place and as of now, Yasir is yet to play a Test against India or in India. Despite that, he is capable of doing well if he gets to face the world no. 1 Test side at home for the first time in his career.
Players considered for this role: Yasir Shah, Nathan Lyon and Rangana Herath.
Fast bowlers
Without a thought, spinners will have their task cut out when their team is playing in India. It doesn't mean that fast bowlers have nothing to do in these conditions.
They are required to create the pressure from one end and when the ball gets old, they can extract a lot of reverse swing from the SG balls. A lot of exciting fast bowlers have come up the ranks over the past few years and out of those, we will have two to share the red cherry.
The best fast bowler at the moment, James Anderson is just a mere liability in conditions that don't suit seam bowling. His teammate Stuart Broad is a good choice to have in these conditions, thanks to his performances in this part of the world and the variations in his armours.
Unfortunately, he has to miss out from the XI just to accommodate two pacers who are slightly better than him at the moment.
Kagiso Rabada is a young and an exciting prospect, who has replaced the great Dale Steyn as the spearhead of the Protea bowling attack. The 22-year-old has already taken 87 wickets in just 20 wickets and is already on his way to greatness across three formats. He is fast, can swing the new ball both ways, can generate reverse swing with the old ball, a sharp bouncer and has a deadly yorker in his armoury.
He has played three matches against India and all three of them came away from home. Though he was not very effective in his debut series, he has improved a lot in the last two years and is probably the best bowler at the moment.
Sharing the new ball will be Australia's Josh Hazlewood, who was picked ahead of his teammate Mitchell Starc, thanks to the latter's injury concerns and the former's accuracy with the ball. Hazlewood is the closest one can get to Glenn McGrath when it comes to accuracy.
The New South Welshman also had a good tour of India earlier this year and troubled the batsmen with his consistency and his ability to hit same area ball after the ball, something that will come in handy in creating pressure in these conditions.
Players considered for this role: Stuart Broad, Kagiso Rabada, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
As mentioned earlier, this features the best players around the world who can pose a challenge to India in India if they play in one team.
This XI consists of five England cricketers, two each from South Africa, Australia and Pakistan. It is a very difficult job to handpick just 11 players from nine countries and some deserving cricketers are expected to miss out from the team in order to get the right combination.
This team has the right balance with eight proper batsmen and five frontline bowlers, thanks to the presence of two all-rounders in Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes. This team has five men who have the experience of captaining a side as well.
Australia's Steve Smith, the only captain to lead his side to victory against Kohli's Indian team in India, gets the nod to lead the side ahead of Alastair Cook, the last captain to win a series in India (in 2012).
The playing XI:
Azhar Ali
Alastair Cook
Hashim Amla
Steve Smith (c)
Joe Root
Ben Stokes
Jonny Bairstow (WK)
Moeen Ali
Yasir Shah
Kagiso Rabada
Josh Hazlewood
12th man: Kane Williamson
Reserves: Quinton de Kock, Asad Shafiq, Rangana Herath, Stuart Broad.
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