The first England vs India Test at Edgbaston is about to begin in two days while Virat and his men are toiling hard on the nets for the upcoming challenge. The series is expected as the most gruelling contest for both the teams.
The Englishmen are already high on confidence as they recently beaten a strong Team India in the ODI rubber 2-1. They look settled in all the departments and the inclusion of their strengths – Alistair Cook and James Anderson, are going to play the big role.
On the other hand, India would definitely like to bounce back after facing a humiliating defeat which broke their unbeaten streak of 9 ODI series. They last tasted success on the English soil in 2007 when Rahul Dravid led-side won the three-match Test series 1-0.
At the same time, the visitors might miss their specialist bowler – Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the first three games while Bumrah in the first face off. In that case, the onus ultimately comes on Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, and Umesh Yadav to lead the pace battery.
Meanwhile, we at Wah Cricket, present our predicted XI for the first face-off at Edgbaston.
Predicted Playing XI:
1. Murali Vijay
2. Shikhar Dhawan
3. Cheteshwar Pujara
4. Virat Kohli (C)
5. Ajinkya Rahane
6. Dinesh Karthik (WK)
7. Hardik Pandya
8. R Ashwin
9. Ravindra Jadeja
10. Ishant Sharma
11. Umesh Yadav
In 2014, India played the last Test series in England under MS Dhoni's captaincy. India had some new faces in the side including Stuart Binny and Bhuvneshwar. The English side completely dominated the guests and hammered them 3-1. Here're the highlights: