All you need to know about the first India-England Test at Rajkot

Rajkot will witness its maiden Test match when India and England begin their five-match series on Wednesday. Factoring in the events of 2011, 2012 and 2014, the series has been labelled as an opportunity for the hosts to settle old scores.

On the other hand, Alastair Cook’s team arrive in India amidst a cloud of pessimism hanging over them. With their ability to negotiate those spin-friendly pitches about to be put to a gruelling test, a mouthwatering tussle awaits. Let us take a detailed look at the five most important aspects surrounding the series opener at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

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#5 Contrasting recent form

Ravichandran Ashwin seems to be in unstoppable form at the moment

India’s recent Test form has been particularly impressive with four successive series victories across both home and away. Under an aggressive skipper in Virat Kohli, they will be eager to add the England team to their list of conquests and open up a significant lead at the top of the table.

England kickstarted their summer with a comfortable 2-0 victory at home against Sri Lanka. But, they could only manage a 2-2 draw when Pakistan visited them in the ensuing series.

Things turned to worse after Bangladesh pulled off a historic 108-run victory against them and leveled the series in Dhaka.

#4 Will hosts go with a three-two bowling combination?

Hardik Pandya could take up the second seamer slot

Anil Kumble felt that Hardik Pandya’s entry into the squad presents him with an additional option for the second seamer’s position. While the all rounder has been spending considerable time during practice, his selection should depend a lot on the surface. If wickets needed to be prised out rather than picked in a heap, Pandya stands a huge chance to make his debut.

Meanwhile, the visitors are likely to bring back Gareth Batty at the expense of left-armer Zafar Ansari seeing how the latter fared in his maiden outing at Dhaka. Stuart Broad is set to take up the responsibility of leading the bowling attack after he was given a breather.

Probable Playing Eleven

India

Murali Vijay, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra and Mohammed Shami

England

Alastair Cook (c), Haseeb Hameed, Joe Root, Ben Duckett, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Johnny Bairstow (wk), Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Gareth Batty and Stuart Broad

#3 Rajkot pitch set to bask in sunshine

A thin grass cover should be enough to hold the surface together (Image Courtesy: Jonathan Agnew’s Twitter)

Former England seamer and veteran BBC journalist Jonathan Agnew gave an early glimpse of the Rajkot pitch in his official Twitter feed. Notorious among domestic circles for producing run-fests, the curators have left a noticeable layer of grass in order to ensure that the surface does not deteriorate during the first few days itself.

However, scorching sunshine is predicted right throughout the match which could still make batting progressively difficult. It remains to be seen if the sprinkling of grass remains when the Test begins.

#2 India’s unbeaten streak at home

Ravindra Jadeja’s Asian average of 17.53 is the best among all bowlers with at least 50 scalps

Here are some of the interesting statistics pertaining to the game.

With Australia slipping to a 177-run defeat at the hands of South Africa in the first Test at Perth, India are the only team to remain unbeaten at home since the start of 2013. During this period, they have played 13 matches and won 12 of them with one rain-affected draw.

Broad will become the 14^th England cricketer to complete 100 Test caps assuming he starts in Rajkot.

Ravichandran Ashwin needs only one more Player of the Series award to become the third-highest recipient of the award in Test history alongside Imran Khan, Sir Richard Hadlee and Shane Warne.

Among bowlers with at least 50 Test wickets in Asia, Ravindra Jadeja’s average of 17.53 is the best by some distance. He has taken 64 wickets in the continent from 12 matches.

• #1 England’s batting depth under focus

Ben Stokes could pose a threat with both bat and ball

Capable of tormenting the opposition in tandem, India’s spin duo of Ashwin and Jadeja hold the aces against a batting lineup which showed signs of capitulating to the turning ball at home (in the Pakistan series) as well as in Bangladesh.

If picked, Amit Mishra can be expected to play a pivotal role seeing the visitor’s struggles against wrist-spin.

The onus will be on England’s top-order to get them off to solid starts and reduce the effect of impending collapses. Armed with a rapidly improving ability to generate reverse-swing as well as a batting style which allows him to score quickly, all rounder Ben Stokes has all the makings of becoming a genuine game-changer even on the turning subcontinental pitches.