India take on England in the opening Test of the five-match series in Hyderabad on Thursday. The series is part of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle.
India won 3-1 when England toured the country last time in 2021. India and England played out a 2-2 draw in their last series (2021-22), spread over a year due to the rescheduled fifth Test, in the Old Blighty.
India are in second spot with a winning percentage of 54.16 in the WTC standings as opposed to England in seventh place (15%).
Possible line-up
Star Indian batter Virat Kohli has opted out of the first two Tests due to personal reasons. Captain Rohit Sharma and rookie left-hander Yashasvi Jaiswal will open the Indian innings with Shubman Gill coming in at No.3. Shreyas Iyer is expected to bat at No. 4 followed by K L Rahul.
K S Bharat is widely tipped to do the wicketkeeping duties. Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin and Axar Patel are the spin-bowling all-rounders while Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj form the pace department.
Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett are the England openers, with vice-captain Ollie Pope coming in at No. 3. The experienced Joe Root is slated to come in at No. 4 followed by Jonny Bairstow. Skipper Ben Stokes is likely to come in at No. 6 followed by stumper Ben Foakes.
Left-arm spinner Jack Leach and leggie Rehan Ahmed are expected to be the tweakers. The evergreen James Anderson and quickie Mark Wood are likely to perform the new-ball duties.
Likely XI: India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, K L Rahul, K S Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah & Mohammed Siraj.
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (capt), Ben Foakes, Rehan Ahmed, Mark Wood, Jack Leach, James Anderson.
The venue
India have won four out of the five Tests played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, with one match ending in a draw. Like most Indian pitches, this too is a bat-first wicket. The track should get lower and slower as the match goes on.
Live telecast
The match will be telecast live on Sports 18. Live streaming will be available on JioCinema app.
