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The last time India had won a Test series in England it was in 2007 when “The Wall” Rahul Dravid was the skipper. Now 11 years later , Virat Kohli and his team will try to emulate that feat. This five match Test series is a big challenge for Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri.
They had time and again pointed out that winning the Tests in England or for that matter overseas Test series win is a top priority for the side. It’s records in T20 and ODI’s overseas has been heartening but in Tests it has not gone the desired way. So this is the real Test.
The selectors have named the squad for the first three Tests of the five match Test series :
Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur.
Numberone wicket-Keeper Wriddhiman Saha , yet to recover from injury , makes way for Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Dinesh Karthik, dashing and aggressive Rishabh Pant gets a Test call and will be reserve back- up for karthik.
Karun Nair gets his chance ahead of Rohit Sharma. Sharma’s Test career has been highly in consistent.
Ajinkya Rahane overlooked for T20 and ODI series returns to squad and will be Virat’s deputy. For Rahane the series is a chance to reclaim his spot in the ODI team ahead of the World Cup in 2019.
The team’s think tank will have some headaches to solve, who will be openers ? How long will Bhuvneshwar Kumar take to get fit?. What about Jasprit Bumrah? How will the team play three spinners – Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja .
So, for Virat Kohli selecting a playing eleven will not be an easy task. Knowing well the fact that England are a tough side to beat at home conditions.
