4 Indian players who might not feature in the playing eleven for the first test
The Virat Kohli-led Indian team will take on hosts England in a gruelling five-match Test series beginning on August 1 at Edgbaston, Birmingham. India won the three-match T20 series 2-1 earlier this month with a brilliant display of batting and exceptional spells from the young Kuldeep Yadav.
However, they could not hold onto their lead in the ODIs as they lost the second and third ODIs against the hosts to be defeated 1-2 in the three-match series.
Eoin Morgan, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Plunkett and Adil Rashid were the chief tormentors for England.
The Test match though is a different ball game and with the Indian squad for the first three test matches announced, let us look at four players who might be left out of the playing eleven. The squad has depth and a large pool of quality players. Hence, some talented players might just have to sit out during the tests.
Team India's squad: Virat Kohli (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-capt), Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur
Note: Jasprit Bumrah will be unavailable for selection in the first test
#1 Kuldeep Yadav (spinner)
Kuldeep Yadav was arguably India's best bowler during the limited overs series against England recently. With nine wickets in three ODIs and five wickets in two T20Is, he was the prime wicket-taker for the Men in Blue against the host side comprising of quality batsmen like Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Eoin Morgan.
The left-arm chinaman bowler, who made his Test debut against Australia in March 2017 was last seen in the whites for India back in August last year against Sri Lanka.
With the presence of vastly experienced Ravindra Jadeja in the Test squad, Kuldeep's spot in the eleven is highly uncertain.
The much-awaited Ashwin-Jadeja combo will be in action, which means Kuldeep might have to sit out for the Test matches starting on August 1 at Edgbaston.
The prospect of Jadeja being a vital lower middle-order batsman and a highly talented left-arm spinner means Kuldeep will most likely be left out of the eleven.
Kuldeep, who has played 23 ODIs and 12 T20Is for the Men in Blue has represented Team India in just two Test matches so far with nine wickets to his name.