Ind vs Eng, 1st Test: Virat Kohli Confirms Rishabh Pant As Wicket-Keeper; Here's Predicted Playing XI

Ind vs Eng Test Series: A win in this series will be important for both the teams as they will aim to better their chances of making it to the final of ICC World Test Championship.

Pic Courtesy: BCCI / Twitter

Virat Kohli-led Indian cricket team is all set take on England in the four-match Test series, starting on Friday. Both teams will be focused on making it to the finals of the World Test Championship. Team India faces England tomorrow, which is the only team to win a Test series (2012) in India in the last 15 years.

Recently, team India under Ajinkya Rahane's captaincy, won the Test series 2–1 with a great all-round performance in Australia, while England arrived in India after sweeping Sri Lanka 2–0 in the Test series. Therefore, fans will surely witness an thrilling contest at Chennai!

With the Ind vs Eng Test, the Indian team will be seen playing on the home ground for the first time after a year-long wait. Also with India vs England first Test, a win in this series will be important for both the teams as they will aim to better their chances of making it to the final of ICC World Test Championship.

Rishabh Pant silenced all critics with his match-winning batting performance in Australia, but the question of him being careless and not being upto the mark while keeping wickets remain intact. Wicket-keeping becomes even more difficult against spinners in India. Therefore, Wriddhiman Saha's claim to the spot in playing XI seemed strong. But looks like the team wants to go ahead with Pant after his recent success and captain Kohli has also confirmed it.

"Rishabh Pant will take the gloves tomorrow," Kohli said during the presser ahead of Ind vs Eng 1st Test.

Some important players of the Indian team are injured for Ind vs Eng Test, but still there are some good options for Playing XI on the basis of their remarkable performance in the recently-concluded series against Australia. Let's take a look at the predicted playing XI for India vs England 1st Test!

Team India's predicted playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Akshar Patel, R Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav