India Squad For Tests Against England: India announced the 16-man squad for the first two in the 5-match Test series against England that is set to commence on January 25th. The squad sees most big names being a part of it with a maiden call-up also announced.
The 1st Test match against England will be played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad from January 25th to 29th. The second day of this match will fall on 26th January, India’s Republic Day.
The 2nd Test match will be played in Vishakhapatnam’s Dr Y S Rajashekhar Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium (aka ACA-ADCA Cricket Stadium) from February 2nd to 6th.
The Indian team announced for these two matches is as follows. –
India Squad For Tests Against England
Openers –
Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill
Rohit Sharma has had a horrid time in the Indian jersey ever since losing the final of the 2023 Cricket World Cup last November. Since then, his highest score has been 39 and he has been out for a duck thrice, with the two most recent coming against Afghanistan in the ongoing T20I series. Despite that, it is difficult to imagine him not playing in these massive Tests against England.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, despite not having the best Test series against South Africa, is still India’s best bet for the second opening slot at the moment. The explosive batter made 171 in his Test debut last year and looks like a solid bet as a true all-format player.
Shubman Gill has not had the best time opening in Tests and might not play in these first two matches. But India might look to experiment and play him at no.3, seeing his struggles against pace bowlers with a fresh ball.
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Middle-Order Batters –
Shreyas Iyer, Virat Kohli
In his limited time playing Test cricket, Shreyas Iyer has been a true middle-order batter, having played at no.5 and no.6 position. But if he is to play in these test matches, he might be pushed up to no. 3 position. He might end up competing with Shubman Gill and KL Rahul for that spot.
Unlike Iyer, Virat Kohli will be one of the first names on the teamsheet. Arguably the greatest player of the generation, Kohli will look to light this home Test series against England up. He will most likely bat at his usual No. 4 spot.
- Check Out: India Squad For Tests Against England
Wicketkeepers
KL Rahul, KS Bharat, Dhruv Jurel
The biggest news coming out of this team selection might be DHruv Jurel’s maiden India call-up. The UP and Rajasthan Royals (RR) wicketkeeper-batter. A former U-19 player for India, Jurel has an average of 16.47 in the Ranji Trophy and is a solid lower-middle-order batter. However, it is unlikely that he will be handed his Test cap in a massive series against England.
KL Rahul was massively impressed with his wicketkeeping in the 2023 World Cup, cementing himself as a regular behind the stumps in limited-overs formats. But will he be able to keep for a full five-day Test match? That will most likely be tested against England.
KS Bharat is a fine keeper but sparks no confidence with his batting. He is very clearly a placeholder until Rishabh Pant makes his likely return to international cricket sometime this year.
All-Rounders
Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel
The trio shows the goldmine of wrist-spinning all-rounders India has at the moment. Out of these, only Ravichandran Ashwin is the one who played a Test against South Africa recently. He will also likely play against England. One of the smartest cricketers of this generation, not only is Ashwin a world-class spinner, but he is also a very solid Test batter.
On the spinning tracks of Hyderabad and Vizag, there is a place for two of these three to be in the squad, and the second one might be Ravindra Jadeja. However, it might be a toss-up between him and his fellow Gujarati Axar Patel. While the two bring something very different with their finger-spin, Axar Patel has greatly improved his batting and might be on par with Jadeja here, as he showcased in the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
- Check Out: India Squad For Tests Against England
Bowlers –
Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan
The first two matches will likely be played on spinning tracks, which will most definitely mean that India will go with three spinners in the Playing XI. We already discussed how two of India’s three spinning all-rounders will play against England. The third spinner might end up being Kuldeep Yadav, who established himself as India’s premier wrist-spinner by having a solid 2023 across all formats.
India will also likely play 2-to-3 pacers (depending on how many batters end up playing). The most obvious of these would be Jasprit Bumrah. Ever since he returned to the squad after a long injury layover last year, India has looked like a completely different squad. He is also the vice-captain for the side.
Another lock-in for the playing XI is Mohammed Siraj, who will play in front of his home crowd in Hyderabad. He had a fantastic Test series against South Africa.
Out of the remaining two pacers, Mukesh Kumar is more likely to make his way into the playing XI. He did have a decent South Africa tour and might be rewarded with continued Test call-ups.
While Avesh Khan is a decent backup bowler to have in the side, he is more of a limited-overs bowler and an untested commodity in Test cricket. He is unlikely to get his Test cap against England.
- Check Out: Dhruv Jurel Gets Maiden India Call-Up
IndiaProbable Playing XI For The First Two Tests Against England –
- Rohit Sharma (C)
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- Shubman Gill
- Virat Kohli
- KL Rahul
- Ravindra Jadeja
- Ravichandran Ashwin
- Kuldeep Yadav
- Jasprit Bumrah
- Mohammed Siraj
- Mukesh Kumar
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