India's predicted playing XI for one-off Test against Afghanistan

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The BCCI last month announced the India squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan. There were a few surprising omissions with Shreyas Iyer not finding a place in the squad.

In the absence of Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane will lead the side. Pace spearheads Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have been rested hence it will be interesting to see who gets to play in their place.

Here is how India could line up in the Test:

Openers

Murali Vijay, when fit, walks into the Indian Test side. Vijay had a great series against Sri Lanka but had no answer to the seaming, bouncy wickets on offer in South Africa. He has hardly featured in the IPL this season and will need some game time ahead of the testing series against England later this year.

The other opening slot is a toss-up between KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan but Rahul has been in scintillating form in the IPL and should make the cut, unless India really need a left-right combination at the top, which is unlikely.

Rahul struggled in the South Africa series when given the opportunity but against a much weaker bowling line-up, he will be licking his lips at the prospect of getting back into form in the whites.

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