India Playing XI vs England, 1st Test: Ajinkya Rahane Names 2 Surprise Picks

Indian cricket team batter Ajinkya Rahane included Arshdeep Singh and Sai Sudharsan in his predicted XI for the first Test match against England starting Friday. Ahead of the highly-anticipated Test series, Rahane named his preferred India XI on YouTube and it had a couple of surprise picks. Rahane excluded the likes of Karun Nair and Prasidh Krishna but decided to go with Dhruv Jurel as a middle-order batting option. Rahane also picked Shardul Thakur after his solid run of form in the intra-squad warm-up match.
Rahane picked Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul as his opener with Sai Sudharsan playing at No. 3 on debut. Skipper Shubman Gill, Dhruv Jurel and wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant formed the middle-order.
Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul found a spot in the playing XI as all-rounder options.
Coming to the bowlers, Rahane decided to go with three specialist fast bowlers - Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, and Arshdeep Singh.
Meanwhile, Gill stressed the importance of taking 20 wickets to secure victory in the traditional format.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Gill acknowledged that while runs remain vital, it's the bowlers who often determine the result in red-ball cricket.
"Yes, definitely in Test matches, if you want to win a Test match, you can't win a Test match without taking 20 wickets no matter how many runs you score," Gill said.
"That has been one of our key discussion points, how we will take 20 wickets," he added.
The Indian think tank is also considering a balanced approach in their playing XI, according to Gill.
"There might be a case where we go with six pure batters, and you will see a bowling all-rounder and three-four premier fast bowlers," he noted.
India will hope to start the series strongly, with their bowlers playing a pivotal role in countering the English challenge under unfamiliar yet intriguing conditions.
With conditions expected to be slightly different from typical English summers, Gill revealed that the team is carefully assessing their playing combination.
Ajinkya Rahane's predicted XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Dhruv Jurel, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, and Arshdeep Singh.
(With ANI inputs)

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