Team India will take on England in the opening match of the five-Test series at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, starting on January 25, Thursday.
The last time India and England played the Test series was in 2022, which ended in 2-2 draw after Ben Stokes-led side won the fifth Test by five wickets. England are on their first India Test tour ever since captain-coach duo of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum took over the reins of Three Lions red-ball squad.
With the Bazball is going to be talking point for a month, Indian spinners will be looking dominate the Test series with Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel in the squad. However, the hosts will certainly miss the services of Virat Kohli as star batter withdrew from two Tests due to personal reason.
Royal Challengers Bangalore batter Rajat Patidar has been added to India squad for India squad as a replacement for Kohli.
England are set to play their first Test series after The Ashes against Australia in July 2023. Ahead of the five-match series against Team India, Three Lions suffered a big blow as Harry Brook made himself unavailable for the entirety of India tour as he returned due to personal reason. The right-handed batter Dan Lawrence has been added to the squad as a replacement for Brook.
Meanwhile, England announced its Playing XI for the first Test. The visitors are going with only pacer in Mark Wood and picked three spinners in Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley and Jack Leach.
Meanwhile, young Pakistan-origin British bowler Shoaib Bashir was forced to return to UK due to delay over receiving his visa. The 20-year-old was with England squad for training in Dubai. While his teammate travelled to Hyderabad, Bashir stayed back in Dubai.
When To Watch India vs England 1st Test?
The Test series opener between India and England will take place in Hyderabad at 9;30 am IST. Skippers Rohit Sharma and Ben Stokes will walk out for the toss at 9:00 am.
Where To watch the India vs England 1st Test?
The first Test between India and England will be live telecasted Sports18 network. For those who prefer to watch the match on OTT, they can log in to Jio Cinema app or jiocinema.com.
India and England squads
IND: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rajat Patidar, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan
ENG: Ben Stokes (c), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Shoaib Bashir, Dan Lawrence, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood
