IND vs ENG GamePlan Team Prediction Tips for 1st Test Match India vs England, 5 February

IND vs ENG GamePlan Prediction: It’s time for the return of international cricket to India after a gap of almost 12 months. Both India and England are coming after registering emphatic wins and will leave no stone unturned to grab the final spot against the already qualified New Zealand in the World Test Championship. While the gritty young guns of India battled through all the odds of injury and insult to turn the tables and beat Kangaroos at their den, England is knocking at the door with five overseas victories in a row.

This four-match test series has everyone’s eyes as a lot depends on the score-line of this last series of the World Test Championships. With Australia’s tour of South Africa canceled, New Zealand has already qualified for the WTC final leaving the opposite spot open for India, England, and Australia. India’s qualification scenario involves a fairly gettable target and it will be interesting to watch if the hosts have brushed aside the Australia hangover or not as the visitors will be eyeing to make Joe Root’s 100^th test match a memorable one.

Match Info

England Tour of India 2021, 1^st of 4 Tests

India vs England

Date- February 05, 2021 – February 09, 2021

Time- 09:30 AM (IST)

Venue- MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

Pitch Report:

MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai is famous for its turning track. The surface is expected to help spinners a lot. In January 2020, spinners picked 25 of the 30 wickets to fall in the Ranji Trophy fixture between Tamil Nadu and Railways.

The last Test at the venue:

In 2016 against England, India produced the highest total (759/7 decl.) there and Ravindra Jadeja took seven-fer in the fourth innings.

IND vs ENG GamePlan Team News:

India

• “Rishabh Pant will start against England,” said skipper Virat Kohli on the eve of the first test match which means W Saha might warm the bench
• Kohli also confirmed Rohit Sharma and Shubhman Gill to be the first choice openers for the entire series
• With R Jadeja unavailable, all-rounder Axar Patel can make his Test debut tomorrow

England

• Opener Zak Crawley has been ruled out of the first two tests due to a wrist injury
• Fit-again Moeen Ali is likely to feature in playing11 and might take Dom Bess’s spot
• Rory Burns and Dom Sibley are likely to open the innings for the visitors

IND vs ENG GamePlan Playing 11:

India

Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav/Mohammed Siraj/Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah

England

Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Daniel Lawrence, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad 

IND vs ENG Who Will Win

The hosts haven’t lost a home Test series since losing to England in 2012. On the other hand, the visitors have managed five overseas triumphs in a row. While it may look poised, India does have an upper hand playing at the home conditions.

IND vs ENG GamePlan Fantasy Team

Wicket Keeper – R Pant

Batsmen- J Root, R Sharma, V Kohli, A Rahane, O Pope

All-rounder- M Ali, R Ashwin

Bowler- J Archer, S Broad, J Bumrah

Stats that matter/Captain & vice-captain Picks

• Rohit Sharma averages 88.33 in 14 home Tests
• Joe Root in the Last 5 matches- 622 Runs, Bat. AVG. 88.85
• Ben Stokes has scored 1999 runs at an average of 40.80 since 2018 and has picked 63 wickets at an average of 27.59 in 28 tests
• Virat Kohli has amassed 7318 runs in 87 test matches including 27 hundreds