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Xtra Time Web Desk: The much anticipated first test match between India and England will get underway from Thursday, January 25 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. The five match test series is touted as Bazball versus Spinball. Both the teams suffered a big setback ahead of the series opener. Team India’s star batter Virat Kohli and England’s rising star Harry Brook will not be available due to personal reasons.  

The visitors have taken a brave call by including three spinners and one pacer in the playing XI. England opted to leave out experienced James Anderson and Ollie Robinson and decided to go with Mark Wood alongside Jack Leach, Rehan Ahmed and Tom Hartly.

For India, the biggest question is who will replace Virat Kohli in the playing XI. The side has several options under its belt. Shreyas Iyer could be one of the ideal candidates to replace Virat Kohli in the side, given his incredible prowess against spin bowling. Depending on conditions and match situation, KL Rahul could also be one of the players who can bat in the No. 4 position.

India could also choose to follow the same path as well, however, that would be an incredibly bold call from the Indian team management, especially after the way that Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah bowled in the second Test match against South Africa in Cape Town.

In case India do opt to bowl with two pacers, it will be a toss-up between Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav. India captain Rohit Sharma said in the pre-match press conference that Kuldeep is a tempting choice but added that Axar Patel adds the batting depth in case things go wrong at the top.

Here is the predicted XI for India: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, KS Bharat, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel/Kuldeep Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj