Gill in Kohli’s number 4, no place for Nitish Reddy

The Control Board for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the squad of the India Cricket Team for the England Test series. As expected, Shubman Gill is named Captain. Rishabh Pant will be his deputy. Two stallwarts of the game, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, have retired, and their presence will be felt.

Rohit was India’s nominated opener since 2019, while Kohli played at number four by the end of his career since 2013. It will not be easy to replace them. And of course winning without them will not be a piece of cake. After losing its previous two Test series, India would like to win.

India has not won a Test series in England since 2007. However, the last tour ended in a draw, before in three, India won just 2 out of 15 matches. Captain Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir want to continue the trend of previous tour, where India was ahead 2–1.

What do you expect in leads

In Australia, we saw that India was the first punch in Perth. The series did not go in the way of India, but had a chance to win or attract it. England is not as strong as Australia. India has essential workers to defeat England in the first Test site, Leeds. A county championship match is still going on today.

In just 105 overs, 14 wickets have fallen in the match between Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. All wickets are taken by pacers. Now, in a month’s time, the pitches will dry a bit and slightly flattened out. But pacers should be the main force there. Keeping this in mind, we can expect only one spinner and four pacers to India.

Sai Sudarshan and Karun Nair, only new additions

Yashasvi Jaiswal will be India’s first nominated opener. KL Rahul, in all possibilities, will be the second opener, Rohit’s place. Sai will be at Number three, and Gill will take over from Kohli at number four. Even if the batting position changes, these four players will remain in the top four.

Really, Karun Nair is the only number five in India. He has experience playing in England, which represents Northamptonshire. A person like Washington Sundar or Nitish Kumar Reddy, trying to try in number five, seems to be a risky gamble that India will not take.

Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja have been India’s number six and seven for seven times, and it will continue. Both have also succeeded in the same place in England.

No place for Nitish Kumar Reddy

Nitish Reddy played at number 8 in Australia, but the move did not do well. Yes, he scored runs, but he scored only 44 overs in 5 matches. The failures of the top and middle order saw him saving India with a bat for some time, but in the end, the wicket -winning you match. And if Nitish bowls less than 5 overs per innings, like he did in Australia, no one can play him in England.

So Shardul Thakur will play at number 8. He was probably the best player in the second part of the Ranji Trophy. He is a swing bowler who should do a good job in England. His four Test matches have also come to England in the fifties.

Any Arshdeep Singh or Akash deep

For frontline pacers, Arshdeep Singh and Akash Deep will sit outside. We know that Jasprit Bumrah will play. Mohammad Sirraj has also got success in England. And Prasad Krishna will be selected because of his ex-factor. He bounces and pace in the game and was great in the only match played in Australia.

India’s prediction for 1 England Test XI

Yashsvi Jaiswal
KL Rahul
Sai Sudhrasan
Shubman Gill (C)
Karun Nair
Rishabh Pant (WK & VC)
Ravindra jadeja
Shardul Thakur
Jasprit Bumrah
Prasad krishna
Mohammad Siraj

bench: Abhimanyu Ishwaran, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Dhruv Jurael (WK), Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav