England vs India 2018: Best possible Indian Playing XI at Edgbaston

Bowlers

Kuldeep has been troubling batsmen with his bowling

Kuldeep Yadav

Birmingham is one wicket where India might be tempted to play two spinners. It is the perfect opportunity for India to throw in their mystery spinner right at the start of the tour. The move to play the left arm chinaman bowler could go either way.

It might turn out to be an ineffective move but if somehow Kuldeep Yadav manages to bamboozle a few English batsmen and create a few doubts in their minds, it would be a masterstroke on part of India as it might give birth to a few demons for the English batsman that can very well be exploited by the Indians all through the long test series.

Playing Kuldeep is a gamble, but it is one gamble that should be played right at the beginning. Because, if it does pay off then Team India might gain a mental edge over England and put them under tremendous pressure.

Mohammed Shami

In the absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who is still recovering from an injury, Mohammed Shami should begin the proceedings with the new ball for India.

The fast bowler has speed and can make the ball talk with his swing too. He has been a wicket-taker for India in red ball cricket and has the ability to push the English batsman on the backfoot.

Mohammed Shami can also reverse the old ball quite a bit, which is priceless for a team in English conditions. Shami is a wicket-taker and should be in the starting XI at Birmingham.

Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma is the bowler who would be leading the Indian bowling attack in the absence of Bhuvneshwar.

The lanky fast bowler, with an exceptional spell of fast bowling, won India the game at Lords in 2014. Ishant has been plying his trade in county cricket for quite a while now and should have a fair understanding of the conditions by now.

He has been much more consistent and penetrative with his bowling in test cricket in recent times. India would have great expectations from Ishant to get them the breakthroughs both upfront and in the middle stages of the game.