Aakash Chopra predicts India’s playing XI in first Test vs England, omits Karun Nair and Washington Sundar

New Delhi: India’s next five-Test series against England represents a major shift. It begins their 2025-27 World Test Championship program and is the first series since the retirements of captain Rohit Sharma and influential batter Virat Kohli. Their exits have brought debate about India’s next Test captain, a subject discussed by past opener Aakash Chopra.

In a YouTube video, cricket commentator Chopra offered his prediction for India’s starting lineup in the upcoming five-Test series versus England. His selection included Shubman Gill as captain and featured KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal opening the batting.

He stated that either Devdutt Padikkal or Sai Sudharsan would be included in the team, but omitted Washington Sundar and Karun Nair from the starting lineup.

“I am going with Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul. No need to think about it much, they both did well in the BGT too. It’ll be Yashasvi’s first tour of England so I really hope he does well. KL’s last tour of England was good but you cannot start the tour well and finish poorly. I think it’ll be a very important tour for him. At number three, it could be either of Sai Sudharsan and Devdutt Padikkal. Maybe Padikkal is ahead in the race because he was seen playing in the BGT and made his debut earlier,” said Chopra.

“Sudharsan could be an out-of-box option because he’s been in good form so you want him to play. That means the captain, Shubman Gill, will go at number four,” he added.

Unexpectedly, the team included Deepak Chahar, a fast bowler who has not yet played Test cricket for India.

“At 8, I am thinking Shardul Thakur or Deepak Chahar. You’ll get depth in batting, which Gautam Gambhir loves. Basically, they are bowlers who can bat a bit without compromising on bowlers…. if Mohammed Shami is fit I’ll pick him, but if he’s not, then I’ll want to go with Prasidh Krishna,” said Chopra.

India’s predicted playing XI by Aakash Chopra:

Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, S Sudharsan/Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur/Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami/Prasidh Krishna.

India and England’s five-Test series commences on June 20th in Leeds.

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