Team India went in with Ravindra Jadeja as the sole spinner and Shardul Thakur at number eight as the fourth pace-bowling option in the first Test.
Team India surprised many by their selections at the toss in the first of the five-match Test series against England at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. While KL Rahul looked to be the certainty as the opener with both Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal not available, however, there were wholesale changes as far as the lower order and the bowling attack was concerned.
From the XI that played in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, India made three changes, KL Rahul is the one at the top. The bowling combination changed from 3:2 to 4:1 and the management have gone with the left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who offers something in all the three departments, while bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur got the nod as the fourth seamer.
Pacer Mohammed Siraj was also named ahead of the experienced Ishant Sharma, him being the third change from that playing XI that played a month ago.
England: Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Root(c), Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler(w), Dan Lawrence, Sam Curran, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson, Stuart Broad
India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
However, the cricketers, fans, experts and journalists weren't really happy with the exclusion of Ashwin, as according to most of them he walks in the very Indian Test XI these days if he is available for the selection as he has been one of the best bowlers in the world cricket in Test matches in the last couple of years especially across the world.
Here are some of the reactions:
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 "Ravichandran Ashwin")
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