IND vs ENG 1st Test Predicted Playing 11, Players List

A confident India will aim to soar higher with the return of Virat Kohli against Joe Root’s England during a four-Test series starting Friday with both sides bidding to qualify for the World Test Championship final.

James Anderson, the world’s highest wicket-taking seam bowler, will again test Rohit Sharma’s patience and Shubman Gill’s technique using the pronounced seam of the red SG Test while preparing a tough set of questions in the corridor of uncertainty for the Indian captain.

One might find Cheteshwar Pujara shedding his combative “take body blows” style to a slightly more attacking one on a track where the ball won’t be consistently flying above the waist level.

Squad:
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar



Pujara, Rishab Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasiprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha, Shardul Thakur.

England: Joe Root (captain), Dominic Sibley, Rory Burns, Ollie Pope, Dan Lawrence, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Ben Foakes (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Dominic Bess, Jack Leach, Olly Stone.

Predicted Playing XI:
India: Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah

England: Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Daniel Lawrence, Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Dom Bess, Jack Leach, Jofra Archer, James Anderson/Stuart Broad.