After the end of the limited-overs series, the visitors’ Indian cricket team will now play the long five-match Test series against the hosts England in their ongoing England tour, starting from August 1. The former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has spoken about India’s playing XI for the first Test.

The first Test will be played at Edgbaston (Birmingham) that will begin on this Wednesday (August 1). Prior to the beginning of the Test series, Ganguly has spoken about India’s playing XI.

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Ganguly said that he will be surprised if India doesn’t go with Murali Vijay and KL Rahul for the opening slot in the first Test. He believes that Rahul has performed well in the recent overseas tours while the Indian left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan has failed to play on his potential in the recent overseas tours.

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After struggling in the limited-overs series in this English tour, Dhawan badly failed in the three-day warm-up game for India against Essex at Chelmsford where he scored ducks in both the innings. On the other hand, KL Rahul scored 58 and 36*runs knocks in that game, which has strengthened his claim the opening spot for the first Test.

The former Indian captain told IndiaTV.1, “Dhawan’s history on overseas pitches hasn’t been very impressive. He goes overseas, fails to perform and gets dropped after a few Test matches. He has played amazing cricket in the subcontinent and recently scored a century against Afghanistan before lunch. Rahul, on the other hand, has scored a hundred in Australia, played well in South Africa and West Indies too. I like him technically and he has been successful overseas. I’ll be surprised if India choose not to open with Murali Vijay and Rahul in the first Test.”

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On the other hand, Ganguly also feels that the Indian Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara is not in the good form but still better than Dhawan in the overseas tours. Prior to the Test series in England, Pujara played in the English County cricket for Yorkshire to getting prepared but scored only 172 runs with the average of just 14.33 and his best knock was 41.

Moreover, Pujara also failed to impress in the warm-up game against Essex where he scored just 1 and 23.

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Talking about Pujara, Ganguly said, “Pujara is not in good form. He recently played county cricket and his average was just 13-14. However, in his last Test at the Wanderers, where India won the third Test, he scored a fifty. He has a century in South Africa to his name. He hasn’t been up to the mark in England, but has played better than Dhawan in countries like South Africa, West Indies and England.”