Former India Test opener turned coach Wasim Jaffer has revealed his preferred playing XI for the first Test against England, which is all set to begin on Wednesday (August 4). However, he didn’t add Mohammed Siraj and Hanuma Vihari to the side and chose KL Rahul as the opening partner of Rohit Sharma as Mayank Agarwal has been ruled out.
While speaking on his official YouTube channel, Wasim Jaffer said: “There could be few issues regarding team selection. Whether to play Siraj or Hanuma Vihari or whether to go with two spinners. It all depends on the pitch. There could be a question mark on the third seamer’s spot. Bumrah, Ishant, and Shami will play, or Siraj will play in place of someone. It’s going to be an interesting selection.”
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“If one spinner does not play, then we could see either Vihari or KL Rahul playing. KL Rahul scored a hundred in the practice game. So he will be a strong contender. And he can give balance and options to the side as an opener or a middle-order batter too. Overall, I feel we are going in with a very strong playing XI in this Test match,” Wasim Jaffer further added.
My Playing XI for the first test🤓 #ENGvIND #decode pic.twitter.com/nFohm9cUpD
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) August 2, 2021
He also reckoned the importance of adding runs on the board in Test matches against England and he further explained that they need to post 350-400 totals on the board to defend the total as well.
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“In the WTC final and even in the series in 2014 and 2018, the one problem we had was not posting big totals on the board consistently. So I feel this will be a challenge for the Indian batters this time, right from openers to Cheteshwar Pujara to Ajinkya Rahane and definitely Virat Kohli, who is the backbone of this team. The whole batting unit needs to take responsibility. Because if we can post 350-400 runs consistently, we have the bowling attack to take 20 wickets. But the challenge is to put a big score on the board. It will be an exciting series for sure,” concluded Wasim Jaffer
Wasim Jaffer’s playing XI:
Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
