IND vs SL: Possible India Playing 11 for 1st Test

IND Playing 11: With the T20I series done and dusted, the focus now shifts towards the longer format of the game as India and Sri Lanka will lock horns in Mohali for the first of the two test matches starting March 04. While the two-match series will see the return of Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant who were rested from the T20 series, the test series against Sri Lanka will also mark the end of the rope for test veterans Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane who failed to grab a spot in the squad.

The omission of Cheteshwar Pujara also leaves the 3rd spot vacant and it has to be seen who comes to bat at that position. While skipper Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal are first choice openers, will it be Virat Kohli who bats at number 03 or will it Hanuma Vihari who gets a go at number 03.

Meanwhile, India’s bowling combination is also one thing to watch out for in Mohali. The Mohali surface traditionally assists pacers and the hosts can go all guns blazing in the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, and Mohd Siraj.

Team News

Test veterans Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma have been omitted from the squad
KL Rahul is also unavailable owing to fitness issues
Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant will return after being rested in the T20 series
Priyank Panchal, Shubhman Gill, KS Bharat, and Saurabh Kumar have been selected for the two-match squad

IND Playing 11 (likely)

Rohit Sharma is likely to pair up with Mayank Agarwal to open the innings
Either Virat Kohli or Hanuma Vihari is expected to bat at the number 3 position followed by Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant
Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin will form the lower middle order and also form the spin attack
Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd Shami, and M Siraj are the first choice pacers

Rohit Sharma (c)
Mayank Agarwal
Virat Kohli
Shreyas Iyer
Rishabh Pant (wk)
Hanuma Vihari
Ravindra Jadeja
R Ashwin
Jasprit Bumrah
Mohd Shami
M Siraj

India Squad

Rohit Sharma (c), Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, KS Bharat, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Md. Shami, Md. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Saurabh Kumar.

Related: Best captain in the world

India vs Sri Lanka Dream11 captain, vice captain picks from IND

Virat Kohli is gearing up for his 100th Test and the former India skipper is a must-have pick in your fantasy team. Though Kohli hasn’t hit a hundred for the last two years now, he has been scoring fifties and hasn’t looked off-color so far. He was amongst the top three top run-scorer for India in the South Africa tour, scoring 161 runs in 4 innings at an average of 40.25.

	Matches	Runs Scored	Average
Overall Test	99	7962	50.39
Against SL	09	1004	77.23

Mayank Agarwal has been a part of the setup for quite some time now and is another key batter in the Indian batting lineup. He smashed a ton against New Zealand in the home series after the 2021 T20 WC and was a consistent contributor with the bat against South Africa in the away series.