Who does Wasim Jaffer pick as the playing 11 for India against England?

Last updated on February 6th, 2021 at 08:58 am

Ahead of its test series against England, people are busy making their own teams and taking this practice a step further, former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer has selected his playing XI against the English side. 

The series will start from February 5 in Chennai and hosts are expected to be in their best form after playing and winning a test series against Australia. According to the former cricketer, Rohit Shrama along with the youngster Shubham Gill should make ideal opening partners while following the these two batsmen, reliable players like Cheteshwar Pujara, Skipper Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant should be able to handle the middle order. 

Given the reaction to the English side against spinners, Jaffer has selected two spinners to be included in the team. Ravichandran Ashwin and Azar Patel have made it to the list by the former cricketer. Patel’s inclusion might come as a surprise to many but according to the 42-year-old, the English side struggles against the left-arm spinner and that would create an opening for Patel. 

He expressed his views through a tweet while also asking for others to choose their own teams. “India’s Playing XI for 1st Test (imo): 1 Rohit 2 Gill 3 Pujara 4 Kohli 5 Rahane 6 Pant 7 Axar* 8 Ashwin 9 Kuldeep/Thakur 10 Ishant/Siraj 11 Bumrah. The question is about 2 spots depending on combination + pitch. What”s your XI? *Eng has huge weakness vs left-arm spin. #INDvENG,” Jaffer tweeted.

The bowling unit, especially as far as pacers are concerned, will be headed by Jasprit Bumrah and there can be occasion switch between Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Siraj. Having said that, the opening batsmen noted that the selection must only be done according to the pitch. He also was in favour of giving Kulddep yadav and Shardul Thakur an opportunity against England. 

The Indian team for the first two test matches has already been selected. KL Rahul is not completely fit but depends on the day, if he will be getting a chance or not. Other than that Mayank Agarwal, Wriddhiman Saha, and Washington Sudar have also made it to the team. The full team is as follows- 

Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul (subject to fitness), Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel.