India's likely squad for Test series against England

11/01/2016

The MSK Prasad-led selection committee will select the team on Wednesday (November) for the upcoming five-match Test series against England, scheduled to start on November 9 at Rajkot. It appears highly unlikely that the panel would go for any major surprises after the 3-0 demolition of New Zealand.

India white-washed the Kiwis in the three-match Test series with a stellar effort both with the bat and ball. India then followed the result up in the limited-overs game winning it 3-2.

England are up next to travel India to play five Test matches, Three ODIs and Two T20s, and the BCCI would try to stick to the same combination apart from some odd injuries.

The BCCI may opt for Ishant Sharma who missed the bus for the New Zealand series due to a bout of Chikungunya. Though Ishant was not at all impressive with the ball in the Ranji Trophy game against Karnataka and Odisha, the spearhead has the ability to make a mark anytime. The pace duo of Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav have done a good job, even on the pace-friendly track and are almost sure to retain their spot in the line-up. However, the team will miss Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who will be out of the squad because of his ankle injury suffered during the New Zealand series.

Gautam Gambhir, who hit a 50 in the third Test may retain his place in the squad after a blistering 147 against Odisha in Mohali. With KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan almost out of the squad due to fitness concerns, the Delhi skipper would try to cash in from the chances.

Though, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja ran riot with their spin combination, it won’t be a big surprise if the Committee opts for Amit Mishra as the third spinner in the squad. The Haryana leggie took 15 wickets in the recently concluded One-day series against New Zealand and was adjudged as the Man of the series.

After remaining as an understudy to MS Dhoni, Wriddhiman Saha has finally cemented his place in the squad as he looks to consistently guide the lower order. His credentials as a wicket-keeper were never in doubt, and it only remains to be seen how he keeps up with the hype surrounding him as the best wicket-keeper of India.

Rohit Sharma failed to grab the stream of opportunities given to him in the past, but once again, his couple of good innings when on the brink of eviction have pulled him back to safety. The Mumbaikar should retain his place in the squad.

Both the countries will play their first Test at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot from November 9. The England team is scheduled to arrive in India tomorrow directly from Bangladesh.

India will play five Test matches at Rajkot (Nov9-14), Vishakapatnam (17-21 Nov), Mohali (26-30 Nov), Mumbai (8-12 Dec) and Chennai (16-20 Dec) respectively.

India Probable Test squad: Murali Vijay, Gautam Gambhir, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane(vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Wriddhiman Saha(wk), Rohit Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma

India's likely squad for Test series against England

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