India vs England 2024: India's strongest predicted playing XI against England

India (IND) and England (ENG) will take on each other in the first Test of the five-match series on Thursday, January 25 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. Notably, India have been on a dominant run at home since 2013 having won 16 consecutive series at home and lost just three matches in the same time period.

The Rohit Sharma-led side will look to start the upcoming series with a bang by beating England and starting the series on a positive note. The absence of Virat Kohli in the first two Tests have prompted India to make some changes in their playing XI and make a shift in their batting order. Hence, India will have to field their strongest playing XI in the absence of their star batter to edge past the English on their home soil.

Here's India's Predicted XI against England:

Openers: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal

Indian captain Rohit Sharma has transformed his career ever since he began opening the innings in the longest format of the game. Rohit is a different beast batting in the Indian conditions as he boasts a stellar average of 66.73 on home soil. The opening batter will once again look to give a solid start with the bat in the first Test.

Yashasvi Jaiswal has got his Test career off to a great start scoring a magnificent 171 against the West Indies on his debut in July 2023. However, the southpaw didn’t have a memorable tour to South Africa scoring just 50 runs across four innings. Hence, playing his first Test in India, Jaiswal will look to get a big score against his name in the first Test.

Middle Order: Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, KS Bharat

Shubman Gill got his career off to a great start scoring 359 runs in six innings on his debut series in Australia including a match-winning 91 on Day 5 in the historic Gabba win. The 24-year-old has failed to register a 50-plus score in his last nine innings and hence he will be desperate to get some runs under his belt in the upcoming fixture.

Having got his career off to a sensational start with a magnificent hundred on his debut against New Zealand in Kanpur, Shreyas Iyer has been struggling to fire having not scored a fifty in his last eight innings. In Kohli’s absence, the 29-year-old is likely to take up the number four spot and will look to make justice to the batting position held by one of the greatest of the modern era.

KL Rahul scored a brilliant hundred in the first Test against South Africa in Centurion and looks in fine form. The 31-year-old will be playing as a specialist batter in the upcoming series and will look to go big in the first Test having failed to notch up a big score in the last series against Australia.

KS Bharat will be the first-choice wicketkeeper of the side ahead of Dhruv Jurel. Bharat has failed to leave a mark with the bat having scored 129 runs from eight innings at an average of 18.42. Hence, he will look to make a solid contribution with the bat in the first Test.

All Rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel

Ravindra Jadeja has been the M.V.P (Most Valuable Player) of Indian cricket for a number of years across formats having regularly contributed to the team’s victory with both bat and ball. The southpaw has the third-highest average with the bat (42.42) in the team since 2019. He is also the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the same time period with 85 scalps at an average of 25.23. The 35-year-old will look to continue his marvellous form in the first Test as well.

Axar Patel was the star with the bat for India in the last home series against Australia having scored 264 runs from five innings at an average of 88 with three fifties to his name. He further has a stellar record against England at home with 27 wickets from six innings at an average of 10.59 in his debut series. The Gujarat-born cricketer will look to continue his stellar show in the upcoming series as well.

Bowlers: Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

Ravichandran Ashwin has been India’s leading wicket-taker since 2019 with 148 scalps from 30 matches at an average of 19.66 with eight fifers to his name. The off-spinner is just ten wickets away from completing 500 wickets in the format and will be hungry to achieve the milestone in the first Test itself.

Ever since making his return to international cricket after his 11-month-long injury lay-off, Bumrah has shown why the team missed him dearly with his menacing spells in both formats. The speedster has played just four Tests in India and has picked 14 wickets from seven innings at an average of 15.64.

Bumrah is ten wickets away from completing 150 wickets in Tests having picked up 140 scalps from 61 innings at an average of 21.21 and an economy of 2.71. Hence, he will be hungry to achieve the landmark in the upcoming series.

Mohammed Siraj is fresh from his career-best bowling figures of 6/15 in a historic win at Cape Town in the second Test against South Africa. The right-arm seamer is known to take wickets with the new ball irrespective of the conditions and will be eager to replicate the same in the first Test.

India’s predicted XI against England in the first Test:

Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

Click here: IND vs ENG Live Score, 1st Test