India vs England projected XI of Headingley Test: Who will occupy the No. 3 spot? Will India go with two spinners?
Shubman Gill will lead India in the five-match Test series against England. The first Test will be played at Headingley in Leeds. (Getty Images)
Shubman Gill is set to take centre stage as a revamped Indian team, without the retired Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, aim to break an 18-year drought and clinch a Test series win in England.
Gill stepped into the captaincy role after Rohit retired from Tests last month.
Shortly afterward, Kohli also confirmed his retirement from red-ball cricket. On top of leading the team, Gill faces the challenge of replacing Kohli at the crucial No. 4 spot in the batting lineup.
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India's vice-captain, Rishabh Pant, confirmed on Wednesday that Gill will bat at number four for the opening Test of the five-match series against England, starting Friday at Headingley.
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IND vs ENG: Rishabh Pant opens up on chemistry with Shubman Gill and England challenge
At 25 years old, Gill has a modest Test average of 35 across 32 matches, which drops to 29 in away games and falls below 15 in his three Tests played in England. The number four position in India's lineup has historically been dominated by legends Sachin Tendulkar and Kohli, who together accumulated 21,056 runs in 278 Tests from that slot.
Gill's initial hurdle will be balancing the pressures of captaincy with maintaining his batting performance in England, where India have only triumphed in three Test series — in 1971, 1986, and 2007.
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He will have the energetic support of Pant, who returned strongly after surviving a serious car accident in 2022, alongside promising opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, one of cricket's emerging talents.
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India will also need to manage without key players beyond batting, as their preparation time in England has been limited. Jasprit Bumrah, arguably the world's best all-format bowler, will be managed for his workload and might only feature in three of the five Tests.
Without retired R Ashwin and Mohammed Shami, there are concerns over India's ability to take 20 wickets required for a Test win.
England announced their team for the first Test
on Wednesday, with Brydon Carse and Chris Woakes slated to open the bowling attack, recovering from injuries that kept them out of Zimbabwe matches. Josh Tongue and Shoaib Bashir have retained their places in the England XI, with Gus Atkinson missing due to a hamstring injury, while captain Ben Stokes completes the attack.
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In the batting, it will be Ollie Pope, rather than Jacob Bethell, who will bat at No. 3. Pope, England's vice-captain, had made his position vulnerable after a poor run last year. Moreover, Bethell had made himself count in New Zealand, which prompted serious consideration about the No. 3 spot. But Stokes and Brendon McCullum have opted to stick with Pope.
Bethell scored three half-centuries in his first three Tests, including a 96 runs knock in Wellington.
Pope, meanwhile, occupied the No. 6 spot.
But Pope returned to No. 3 against Zimbabwe, as Bethell played in the IPL, and scored 171 to push his case for retention, which was answered.
Poll
How do you think India will perform in the upcoming Test series against England?
They will win the series
They will lose the series
It will be a drawn series
India projected XI:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
England XI (confirmed):
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir
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