Team India is all set to get back to red bowl cricket in the home country. India’s Brisbane test win is still fresh in our minds, but the men in blue have the next challenge and that is England. The four-Test series has just begun in Chennai, and the ICC test championship final berth is still up for grabs.
The toss was won by England skipper Joe root. He had no hesitation in batting first.
TEAM COMBINATION OF INDIA:
Virat Kohli, who missed the last three Tests against Australia due to paternity leave is back in the side as the skipper. The opening combination of Shubman Gill and Rohit sharma has been kept unchanged.
Cheteshwar Pujara will bat at his usual position at no3 and will be followed by Kohli, Rahane and Rishabh Pant. Since Chennai pitch has been famous for assisting spinners, India have gone with 3 spinners. Ashwin, Washington Sundar and Shahbaz Nadeem have been included in the playing X1. The pace attack is being led by Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma.
PLAYING X1 INDIA:
Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant(w), Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Shahbaz Nadeem.
TEAM COMBINATION OF ENGLAND:
It is a very memorable day for the England captain Joe Root as he is appearing in his 100th test match today. He debuted against India itself during the 2012/2013 series.
Star all-rounder Ben Stokes has returned back to the side along with the tall fast bowler Jofra Archer and Rory Burns. All of them did not feature in their recently concluded series against Sri Lanka. James Anderson has been preferred over Stuart Broad in the playing x1.
India vs England test Series Playing X1 England:
Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Daniel Lawrence, Joe Root(c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Butler(w), Dominic Bess, Jofra Archer, Jack Leach, James Anderson.
PREDICTION
India have started the series as the clear favourite. The recent stats speak the same. They haven’t lost a Test series at home long back since 2012/13. However, it was England who defeated India during the 2012/2013 series with Alastair Cook’s men clinching the trophy 2-1. Four years later, India gave the visitors a thumping defeat by winning the series 4-0.
Experts have also declared team India as favourite for this Test series. After the loss to Australia in Pune test match in February 2017, India has been unbeaten in the home Tests. Since then, they have appeared in 14 home Tests, winning 11 tests and drawing 4. Also, India have won the last 8 tests back- to back since June 18 in Indian soil.
So, these stats clearly give India the favorite tag for this first test match of the 4-test series. However, we cannot rule out any upset from England as they have a quality side and both of the teams eye a place In the ICC test championship finals.