England and India will face off in the first of a five-match Test series, starting on Friday at Headingley in Leeds. The two teams will compete for the newly unveiled Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, named after cricketing legends James Anderson and Sachin Tendulkar.
While England has already named its Playing XI for the series opener, there is suspense over India’s lineup, which comprises a bunch of youngsters. While newly appointed skipper Shubman Gill is set to bat at No. 4, it remains to be seen who takes over the No. 3 spot from him. There is also considerable anticipation surrounding how India’s pace attack shapes up and who between all-rounders Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shardul Thakur gets a game.
India Predicted Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, B. Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (wk), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
England Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (C), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.
ENG vs IND Dream11 Fantasy Team
Wicketkeeper: Rishabh Pant.
Batters: Joe Root (c), Ben Duckett, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul.
All-rounders: Ben Stokes, Ravindra Jadeja.
Bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue.
Team Composition: ENG 6:5 IND Credits Left: 10.5
THE SQUADS
England: Ben Stokes (C), Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue and Chris Woakes.
India: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (wk/vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.