Sai Sudharsan makes debut on same date as Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli; Karun Nair returns after eight years
The transition phase is finally here. India enter a Test series without the tried and tested Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin following their retirements from the longest format. In the first Test of the five-match series against England in Headingley, Leeds, India captain Shubman Gill will be batting at No.4 while KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal will be opening the batting.
Sai Sudharsan will be making his Test debut as he is slotted in to bat at No.3, while Karun Nair makes his comeback into the Test playing XI after eight years. Sai Sudharsan is the 317th Test player for India.
The left-handed batter Sai Sudharsan received his Test cap from Cheteshwar Pujara.
It must be mentioned that Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly made their Test debuts against England on June 20, 1996. On the same date in 2011, Virat Kohli also made his debut against the West Indies.
The right-handed batter, who scored a double hundred for India A in the first unofficial Test against England Lions, is slotted to bat at No.6.
Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is slotted to bat at No.5 while Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur have been named in the playing XI as bowling all-rounders.
Also Read: IND vs ENG LIVE Updates: Sai Sudharsan receives Test cap, debut confirmed
Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna are playing as the three out-and-out pacers for the first Test in Headingley. It must be mentioned that Bumrah has already made it clear that he would be playing just three Tests in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, as the focus remains on managing his workload.
In the first Test at Headingley, England captain won the toss and opted to bowl first. At the time of the toss, Shubman Gill said, 'We would have bowled first as well.'
'We have gone with three fast bowlers and Shardul Thakur. Sai is making his debut and Karun Nair returns to the lineup,' he added.
On the other hand, Ben Stokes said, 'We'll bowl. Headingley is a very good cricket wicket, we've had some really good games here. Want to try and use the early conditions. Been a long time coming, bit strange that this is just the second series but we're ready. It's been mixed, some lads have played county cricket, we've had three days of really good cricket.'
Both England and India players are wearing black armbands as a mark of respect for those who lost their lives in the Air India plane crash.
India playing XI for the first Test: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill ©, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
England playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Ben Stokes ©, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.
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