England announced their playing eleven for the first Test at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad a day before the Test. The visitors have picked three spinners in their lineup and one pacer in Mark Wood. Left-arm spinners Jack Leach and Tom Hartley addition to leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed are included in the playing eleven.
Monty Panesar speaking to this Newspaper would rate young Hartley highly and compare him to Axar Patel, “He’s a similar bowler to Axar. He is more of a roller. Axar knows he doesn’t have to put much spin on it. He looks to set the batter up to the non-turning delivery. And then you’ll get the odd one because his seam is slightly squarer, he’ll get that ball to bite that little bit. Not as sharp as Jadeja. That’s why they complement each other. One’s tall, the other one is a bit shorter.”
With Harry Brook ruling himself out of the series citing personal reasons who would take the gloves behind the stumps debate has come to an end. Ben Foakes will be playing as the wicket-keeper and Jonny Bairstow will replace Brook in the middle order as a specialist batter.
As per India After Kohli requested a break for the first two Tests citing personal reasons, all eyes were on the selection committee as to who they will name as a replacement. Though Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul will make India’s middle-order in the first Test, there was no other backup batsman in the squad in case of a last-minute injury or to use as a concussion substitute.
It is understood that Patidar, who returned after spending nearly 8 months with an injury, was Indian team management and selectors unanimous choice. The Madhya Pradesh batsman, who is known for his temperament, is used to batting at No.4 and in the domestic circuit comes across as an assertive batsman, who likes to put pressure on bowlers from the word go.