After the historic win over Australia in the four-match Test series, the expectations from the Indian team have grown multiple folds. Now, the team is ready to begin a five-match Test series against England with the first Test to be played on 5 February in Chennai. With the competitive pitches and the ongoing ICC World Test Championship, the expectations and enthusiam is high in the respective camps.
India is presently in the first position with 430 points in the ICC World Test Championship followed by New Zealand with 420 points and Australia acquiring the third place while England is in the fourth position.
The Test series would act as a virtual semi-final for both the teams as a part of ICC World Test Championship final qualification scenario as only one or neither of the two teams would end up in the final two spots. For India, the situation is simple. They have to win the Test Series by at least 2-1 for a confirmed Qualification. Whereas for England, they need to win the series by at least 3-1.
Speaking of the India squad for the series, the competition looks tough for the bowlers. Test series against Australia saw many on and offs with players being unavailable. However, the situation looks positive now with major absentees from the last Test series back in the squad. The presence for skipper Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Ishant Sharma, the picture looks perfect. However, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Hanuma Vihari, and Umesh Yadav are yet to recover from the injuries.
Expected Playing XI for the Indian Squad:
Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Axar Patel, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammed Siraj, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rishabh Pant (WK), Rohit Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar & Wriddhiman Saha (WK).