India and England will kickstart the long five-match Test bilateral series with the first match starting on Thursday in Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Rohit Sharma-led Indian side will miss the duties of star batter Virat Kohli who has pulled out of the first two Test matches due to personal reasons. (Streaming | More Cricket News)
Madhya Pradesh's stylish batter Rajat Patidar has been included in the Test squad as Virat Kohli's replacement for the first two matches. He was chosen ahead of veteran Cheteshwar Pujara and youngsters Sarfaraz Khan and B Sai Sudharsan. He will join the team later on Wednesday.
Head coach Rahul Dravid had already said that KL Rahul will not keep the wickets which makes way for either KS Bharat or Dhruv Jurel in the playing XI. Left-hand batter Yashasvi Jaiswal will open the batting with skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill will come at one down.
India might play the spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel as Hyderabad pitch assists the spinners. Speaking of spin, England suffered a huge blow when their uncapped 20-year-old lanky spinner Shoaib Bashir had to return to the United Kingdom to sort out his visa issue, which made him out of contention for the first Test match.
However, England have the likes of Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed in their squad. Ahmed just has the experience of one Test match but 32-year-old Leach has plenty of experience in the traditional format. England's highest wicket-taker James Anderson and Ollie Robinson have not been included in the playing XI that was announced on Wednesday. Mark Wood is the only fast bowler in the team.
Earlier, England's rising star Harry Brook pulled out of the whole series due to personal reasons and 26-year-old right-hand batter Dan Lawrence was included in the team. Coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes have been very successful with the England Test team's attacking batting approach - 'Bazball'. Can they pull this off in the series against India, only time will tell.
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Squads
India: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan, Rajat Patidar
England Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes (WK), Rehan Ahmed, Mark Wood, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach
Before the start of the first Test match, there are three key battles among the players of both teams that are worth looking out for:-
1. Rohit Sharma vs Rehan Ahmed
Rohit Sharma is a good player against spin, but he will need to be careful against the young Rehan Ahmed. Although Ahmed only has experience playing in one Test match, the spin-friendly Hyderabad pitch is likely to work in his favour. While Sharma is known for providing a strong start in white-ball cricket, his poor performance in the traditional format is a cause for concern. It will be interesting to see the battle between the young spinner and the experienced batter.
2. Joe Root vs Ravichandran Ashwin
Joe Root has scored the second-highest number of runs for England in Test cricket, with a total of 11,416 runs. He is a skilled batter who performs well against both spin and pace bowling. However, if he wants to succeed on Indian pitches, he will have to be cautious while playing against Ravichandran Ashwin. Ashwin has a remarkable record on home soil, having taken 490 wickets in the traditional format of the game. Out of these, 337 wickets were taken on home soil. Root's abilities against spin are well-known, but Ashwin's spin web will put his techniques to the test.
3. Ollie Pope vs Jasprit Bumrah
Ollie Pope is a rising Test batter who has already earned comparisons with the stylish former England batter Ian Bell due to his technique and class. Pope usually bats in the middle-order, and when he comes to the crease, Jasprit Bumrah will undoubtedly try to prevent him from settling in. Bumrah is known for his lethal yorkers and deadly bouncers. However, it is still uncertain how much the Hyderabad pitch will assist the fast bowlers. The battle between the young talent and the experienced bowler will be a treat to watch.
