IND vs ENG 2024: Aakash Chopra picks his Indian XI for 1st Test vs England, expects Axar Patel to play ahead of Kuldeep Yadav

Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has picked India’s playing XI for the first Test match against England. Chopra has selected Axar Patel ahead of Kuldeep Yadav as the third spinner in the side. Thus, Chopra has picked Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel as the three spinners in the final XI.

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and rookie batter Yashasvi Jaiswal will open the innings for the home team.

Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel, “What should be the team? Which three spinners should play? The heart says loudly to play Kuldeep Yadav because he is a wicket-taker but Axar Patel deserves to be in the playing XI. I feel the three spinners will be Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Ravichandran Ashwin.”

As Ashwin, Jadeja, and Patel can all contribute with the bat, India will play a specialist wicket-keeper in KS Bharat. Earlier, head coach Rahul Dravid confirmed that KL Rahul will not keep wickets.

“Interestingly, all three bat very well, especially in these conditions. So you have batters till No. 9. If you have such good batters, don’t expect too much batting for the keeper. If you get it, it’s good, but it’s not an issue if you don’t. Rahul Dravid has already said that KL Rahul won’t keep.”

In the absence of Virat Kohli, who has decided to opt out due to personal reasons, Chopra feels KL Rahul will bat at number four whereas Shubman Gill will bat at one down.

“I feel you might see KL Rahul batting at No. 4 because Kohli isn’t there, and you can get KS Bharat to keep. You can play Ravindra Jadeja at No. 6 and Bharat at No. 7 or vice versa, that’s entirely up to you.”

Chopra backed Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, and Shreyas Iyer to play for India in the opening Test against the visitors.

“Yashasvi is at the top of the batting order. Only two among Rahul, Shreyas and Gill could have played had Virat been available but since he isn’t there, all three will play – Gill at No. 3, Rahul at No. 4 and Shreyas at No. 5, or Shreyas at No. 4 and Rahul at No. 5 – it doesn’t make a difference.”

India and England will take on each other in the first Test match from 25th January onwards at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad.