Current India-England combined Test XI

Middle Order: Cheteshwar Pujara, Joe Root, Virat Kohli (c), Jos Buttler (wk)

Cheteshwar Pujara is an easy selection at No. 3

Cheteshwar Pujara will take up his usual No. 3 spot in this combined XI. The gritty batsman put up a resilient showing against Australia recently, and is undoubtedly one of the best Test batsmen in the world. England's No. 3, Dan Lawrence, was dismissed for a duck by Jasprit Bumrah in the first innings of the 1st Test, while Zak Crawley is injured. But in any circumstances, Pujara is an easy choice.

Both Joe Root and Virat Kohli prefer to bat at No. 4, and the former pips the latter to the spot owing to his superb form. Root collected two Man of the Match awards and one Man of the Series award in his last Test series against Sri Lanka, while Kohli hasn't scored a century in over a year.

The captaincy of his team still goes to Kohli, though. He is the most accomplished Indian Test skipper based on win percentage, and his team has had more success both at home and overseas than Root's recently.

The wicket-keeper's slot is a straight toss-up between Jos Buttler and Rishabh Pant.

Both Buttler and Pant went through major lean patches during the most of 2020, but they've stormed back to become their respective team's first option behind the stumps. While Buttler's record in recent series against West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka is fantastic, Pant orchestrated the historic win Down Under with counter-attacking knocks.

Buttler is the man who dons the gloves in this India-England combined XI. He is more experienced, a better keeper, and has been in better form over the last few months. Pant is a southpaw and always adds a different dimension to the batting lineup, but that aspect has already been satisfied by the next batsman in this team.