Match Details
Date: January 25-29, 2024
Time : 9:30 AM IST
Venue : Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad
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Follow: India vs England Test Series Live Overview | Today Fantasy Tips
Preview
India will host England in the first of five Test matches at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. After winning a Test for the first time in Cape Town against South Africa, the Indians will be high on confidence going into the upcoming series in their home conditions. Meanwhile, the English drew the Ashes series against Australia at home after losing the first two Tests, which shows that they know how to rise from adverse situations. Both India and England squads have a plethora of top players that could make their upcoming Test series a very competitive one.
Pitch Report
The pitches at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad are generally very good for the batters in the first couple of days before the spin comes into play big time. The average first innings score at this venue in Tests is 405, which could be an above par total if the pitch starts to turn from day one.
Team Analysis
India
In the absence of Virat Kohli, who has pulled out of the first two Tests of the series, India will have to either shuffle their batting order or pick a new replacement straight into the playing XI. As far as the Indian bowling is concerned, it is looking very settled with all the main spin bowlers available, including the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav, who are expected to wreak havoc on the opposition batters in the upcoming Test series.
SportsTiger Playing XI of India
Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
England
With Harry Brook’s departure back home due to personal reasons for the entirety of the five-match Test series, the English team management got a tough task to fill the spot of one of their premier batters in the longest format. The bowling attack of England will be needing their fast bowlers to set-up, not in terms of curtailing the run of scoring but picking up key wickets, with no real experience in their spin bowling department, except for Jack Leach, in turning conditions.
SportsTiger Playing XI of England
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Ben Stokes (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ben Foakes, Ollie Robinson, Rehan Ahmed, Jack Leach, James Anderson
Match Prediction
Conclusion
With the massive factor of the home advantage in India’s favour, England will have to pull out all the stops to have the best possible chance to defeat the hosts in a Test match, let alone a five-match series.
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