Aakash Chopra picks his Indian XI for 1st Test vs England, expects Axar Patel to play ahead of Kuldeep Yadav

Aakash Chopra expects India to field Axar Patel ahead of Kuldeep Yadav in their playing XI for the first Test against England.

The two sides will square off in a five-Test series, with the first game to be played in Hyderabad from Thursday, January 25. Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar, and Kuldeep are the four spinners in India's squad for the first two Tests.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that Axar deserves to play ahead of Kuldeep as the third spinner, saying (3:40):

"What should be the team? Which three spinners should play? The heart says loudly to play Kuldeep Yadav because he is a wicket-taker but Axar Patel deserves to be in the playing XI. I feel the three spinners will be Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin."

The former India opener highlighted that Jadeja, Axar, and Ashwin's capabilities with the bat will allow the hosts to play a specialist wicketkeeper. He elaborated:

"Interestingly, all three bat very well, especially in these conditions. So you have batters till No. 9. If you have such good batters, don't expect too much batting for the keeper. If you get it, it's good, but it's not an issue if you don't. Rahul Dravid has already said that KL Rahul won't keep."

Chopra reckons KL Rahul might bat at No. 4 in Virat Kohli's absence, with Srikar Bharat donning the wicketkeeping gloves. He stated:

"I feel you might see KL Rahul batting at No. 4 because Kohli isn't there, and you can get KS Bharat to keep. You can play Ravindra Jadeja at No. 6 and Bharat at No. 7 or vice versa, that's entirely up to you."

Kohli has opted out of the first two Tests for personal reasons. Bharat will likely play ahead of Dhruv Jurel, the other wicketkeeper in the Indian squad, because of his experience and the century he scored in India A's recent clash against the England Lions.

---

"All three will play" - Aakash Chopra on Shubman Gill, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer

Shubman Gill scored a century in India's last home Test against Australia. [P/C: Getty]

While observing that Yashasvi Jaiswal will likely open with Rohit Sharma, Aakash Chopra pointed out that Virat Kohli's absence will also allow Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, and Shreyas Iyer to play together in the XI. He said (4:50):

"Yashasvi is at the top of the batting order. Only two among Rahul, Shreyas and Gill could have played had Virat been available but since he isn't there, all three will play - Gill at No. 3, Rahul at No. 4 and Shreyas at No. 5, or Shreyas at No. 4 and Rahul at No. 5 - it doesn't make a difference."

Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, and Avesh Khan are the four seamers in India's squad. Bumrah and Siraj will likely form the hosts' two-pronged seam attack in the series opener.