India vs England 1st Test: Dream11 Prediction, Fantasy Tips, Best Playing XI, Captain and vice-captain

Chennai, Feb 3: Team India will begin their home season with a four-Test series against England with the opening two games set to be played at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. The first Test starts Friday (February 5) and marks the return of international cricket in the country after the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the BCCI to host any form of cricket since March 2020.

The upcoming rubber between India and England gets interesting because a series win would decide the second finalists of ICC World Test Championship, with New Zealand becoming the first team to book a spot in the final scheduled to be held at the Lord's later this year.

Team India needs to win the series by a minimum margin of 2-0 while England would require to defeat hosts 3-1 to qualify for the final. The ICC Test Championship final spot at stake makes the upcoming series even more interesting.

In this article MyKhel predicts the Dream11 Fantasy team for the upcoming first Test between the two teams:

Team News - India

Team India is buoyed with the emphatic series win in Australia last month and start as favourites. India - under the leadership of stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane - were injury-ravaged Down Under, but their grit and resilience subdued the Australians in the latter's backyard as they scripted history Down Under.

A determined Indian side which had several of its key players injured or missing even breached fortress Gabba - which no team had done in the last three decades - to break Australia's unbeaten run in Brisbane.

With the return of regular skipper Virat Kohli, all-rounder Hardik Pandya, and pacer Ishant Sharma the Indian side looks strong and would be raring to start their home season on a winning note at Chepauk.

Team News - England

The English side were defeated 4-0 in the five-Test series when they last arrived at Indian shores in 2017 under the leadership of Alastair Cook. But that is a thing of the past now.

While England players might struggle on the spin-friendly Indian pitches this time around as well but one cannot undermine the fact that the current side under Joe Root's leadership is capable of surprising the hosts.

They are also coming from a 2-nil series win over Sri Lanka in the latter's backyard, and the return of match-winners like Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer makes them an even dangerous side.

Root's form has also been phenomenal of late for the English skipper slammed a double century and a big ton in the two Tests in the island nation. Moeen Ali, Dom Bess and Jack Leach will have to be at their best to surprise Indian batsmen who have a history of doing well under home conditions.

But the tourists can take inspiration from the 2012-13 tour of India in which Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar stunned the star-studded Indian batting line-up and won the series.

Squads:

India Squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (Vice-captain), KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur.

England Squad: Joe Root (captain), Jofra Archer, Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.