Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has named his predicted playing Xi for India for the first Test in Kapur starting from November 25. India are without their key batters Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant for the series. Rahul was ruled out 48 hours before the Test match with a muscle strain on his left hand.

While picking his XI on his Youtube channel, Aakash Chopra said that India should refrain from playing an extra batsman.

“The biggest question is six or five batsmen. You can think about playing six batsmen because Kohli, Rohit, Pant and Rahul are not there – all your main batting is gone. So you might want to go with an extra batsman. I will say resist the temptation, it’s okay.”

Chopra further said that Ravindra Jadeja can bat at number six and play accordingly to the situation of the game. The southpaw has shown marked improvement in his batting in the last two years. He also scored over 40 runs in the first World Test Championship cycle. The cricketer-turned commentator also picked Wriddhiman Saha as the specialist keeper over KS Bharat.

“Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Pujara at three, Rahane at four, Iyer at five. These will be your five batsmen. After that, play Jadeja at six. Jadeja can bat at six. Whichever keeper plays, it should be Saha in my opinion, keep him at seven.”

Coming down to the bowlers, Aakash Chopra said that India can play a three-man spin attack with Axar Patel in the mix with Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. This also lengthens India’s batting order with Patel batting at nine.

Five batsmen or six. Two spinners or three? Ishant-Umesh, Ishant-Siraj or Umesh-Siraj. These are the key questions that Rahane-Rahul will have to answer.
I think with Saha in the side, the wicketkeeper slot won’t be up for debate…even though Bharat is in the squad too. #IndvNZ

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) November 24, 2021

Aakash Chopra Backs Spin Trio To Play In Kanpur

“At eight, you keep Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar at nine. Axar can also bat. So you have a lot of batting. I think don’t compromise on the fact that you will need five full bowlers. It is the Kanpur ground, it will get dark early in the evening, so you might lose a few overs.”

I guess with KL Rahul ruled out, the team more or less picks itself for the first test. Agarwal, Gill, Pujara, Iyer, Rahane, Jadeja, Saha, Ashwin, Axar, Yadav, Siraj. Maybe Ishant but this looks pretty much it. Would have been a great opportunity for Vihari.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) November 23, 2021

Aakash Chopra picked Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Siraj as the two pacers for their ability to swing the ball, leaving Ishant Sharma out.

Aakash Chopra’s India XI

Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj

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