VVS Laxman picks his preferred Indian XI for the first T20I against England

VVS Laxman has named his preferred playing XI for Team India for the first T20I against England in Ahmedabad on Friday.

With the 19-man squad boasting a lot of talented players, it remains to be seen which of them would make the Indian playing XI on Friday. Nevertheless, during a discussion on Star Sports, VVS Laxman put on the selector's hat and picked his preferred Indian XI for the first T20I.

In the top six, VVS Laxman opted to go with KL Rahul ahead of Shikhar Dhawan as Rohit Sharma's opening partner.

"It is going to be a tough choice because there is a lot of quality in that squad. But for me, for the first T20 international, I would go with KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma to open, No.3 will be Virat Kohli, No.4 Shreyas Iyer, No.5 Rishabh Pant, No.6 Hardik Pandya," said VVS Laxman.

3⃣ swashbuckling openers, 2⃣ spots - who would YOU pick?#INDvENG #IndiaTaiyarHai #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/PRV6LXLkg3

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) March 10, 2021

The former Indian player observed that Suryakumar Yadav may have to bide his time for now and could come into contention if the hosts manage to wrap up the series. VVS Laxman said in this regard:

"It is necessary for Suryakumar Yadav to wait. If we win the first three matches, you can play Suryakumar Yadav. You can do rotation in the bowling, you will not get the chance to rotate the batting against this team."

While Rishabh Pant is likely to take up the No. 5 slot, there could be a close call between Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer for the No. 4 position in the batting order.

---

VVS Laxman's bowlers in his preferred playing XI for the first T20I

VVS Laxman wants Axar Patel to play on his home turf.

VVS Laxman picked Axar Patel ahead of Washington Sundar for the spin-bowling all-rounder's slot in a bowling attack comprising of three pacers and two spinners.

"The kind of form Axar Patel has shown during the Test series, keeping in mind it is going to be his hometown Ahmedabad, No. 7 will be Axar Patel. No. 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, No. 9 Deepak Chahar, No. 10 will be Chahal and No. 11 will be Natarajan because I want to develop Natarajan as the death specialist along with Bhuvi and Bumrah," stated VVS Laxman.

The elegant right-hander feels it could be a tightly contested series, but the Virat Kohli-led side would emerge triumphant.

"It is going to be a close series, no doubt about that, but I will still back India, 3-2 for India," concluded VVS Laxman.

Although T Natarajan figures in VVS Laxman's preferred Indian XI, the left-arm pacer may not be available, at least for the first few T20Is, due to a shoulder injury.

#Natarajan has some niggling shoulder injury and may miss early #T20 matches. He is yet to join the team for 5-match series. https://t.co/pzo8I29SLm

— Sreedhar Pillai (@sri50) March 11, 2021

In that case, Shardul Thakur or Navdeep Saini is likely to play the role of the third seamer if the hosts opt for a three-pronged pace attack.