IND vs ENG, 1st Test: Irfan Pathan excludes Sai Sudharsan from predicted XI; Aakash Chopra picks him at no. 3

India and England are set to lock horns with each other in a five-match T20I series, starting tomorrow. Team England, led by Ben Stokes, have already announced their playing XI for the heavily anticipated clash. They have made two changes to the team that played in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe. Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse return to the side at the expense of Gus Atkinson and Sam Cook. 

The Indian team, on the other hand, is expected to announce their eleven on the match day. Meanwhile, former cricketers and renowned cricket experts Irfan Pathan and Aakash Chopra have picked their respective predicted XIs for the first Test. The duo have stuck to the expected opening combination of Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul. The number four and five have already been confirmed by Rishabh Pant in the press conference. India’s newly appointed Test captain Shubman Gill will don the number four slot, while Pant will bat at five. 

For the no. 3 slot, however, Aakash Chopra and Irfan Pathan have chosen different candidates. While the former reckons Sai Sudharsan is expected to bat at three, Irfan Pathan believes Karun Nair is ideally suited to bat at three, keeping in mind his recent form in red-ball cricket. Irfan Pathan didn’t include Sai Sudharsan in his predicted eleven. 

“There have been a lot of talks on the No.3 spot between Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan. According to me, Karun Nair should play, thanks to his good first-class form. While Sai has good form currently, but it's in white-ball. Karun Nair has performed consistently in the red-ball format of late; he should play at No. 3,” Irfan said on his YouTube channel.

Karun Nair bats at number six in Chopra's eleven. Irfan Pathan has opted to go with both the all-rounders, i.e., Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy, while Aakash Chopra has picked only Shardul Thakur between the two. Ravindra Jadeja remains the sole spinner in their line-up, while Bumrah, Siraj, and Prasidh form the pace-attack. 

Aakash Chopra’s predicted XI: 

KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant, Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna  

Irfan Pathan’s predicted XI: 

KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna