India vs England Test Squad Announcement: India will take on England in the first of a five-match Test series at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday. While India has been dominant in the home Tests for over a decade now they will be facing a challenge like never before with the England team under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum at the helm looking to change the formula of how Test matches should be approached which is to play attacking cricket.

England was the last team to beat India in 2012 under Alastair Cook. However, that team relied more on playing the orthodox way and grind out the results. This one is more on the flamboyant side of the spectrum and would come all guns blazing at the Indian side. Though The Men in Blue might not have faced a challenge like this before this group of players have plenty of experience and stellar records up their CVs to show for and back themselves to face any challenge thrown by the England team.

India vs England 1st Test tip off XI

KL Rahul to take number four spot

With talisman Virat Kohli opting out of the first two Test matches it is likely that Rahul will take the number four spot. After losing his spot earlier in 2023 in red-ball format Rahul made a resounding comeback in the first Test against South Africa in Centurion on a spicy pitch. The batter showed sound temperament and solid technique in the innings. Though different challenges await him in this series his performing well in the first two Tests will ensure he cements his place in the side even after Kohli returns.

KS Bharat to take gloves

With Ishan Kishan not in the squad and Rahul won’t keep wickets it is another opportunity for Bharat to showcase his skills. Bharat was impressive with the gloves same time last year in a four-match Test series against Australia. His keeping against the turning ball and uneven bounce have been top-notch. However, His batting did not add much value to the side in that series and will he will be hoping to rectify those numbers this time around. Another aspect which he will be looked at micro level is his ability to guide the skipper with the DRS calls.

Axar Patel to play

Though Rohit has indicated that he would like to have Kuldeep Yadav in the playing eleven he also mentioned about Axar’s ability to contribute runs down the order. Hence Axar might get the nod ahead of Kuldeep. In addition to that the left-arm spinner picked up 27 wickets from three matches at an average of 10.59. in the last England’s tour of India.

IND Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat (wk), R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

England have announced their playing XI earlier in the day

ENG Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, (c) Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes (wk), Tom Hartley, Rehan Ahmed, Mark Wood, Jack Leach