India vs England: India's possible playing XI to face England

Pacers

Ishant Sharma should be back for India against England

India won’t field more than two pacers in the playing XI and it is still unsure who will take care of the new ball in one of the most anticipated series of 2016. Spearhead Ishant Sharma is back in contention after missing the Test series against New Zealand due to chikungunya.

In his absence, Mohammad Shami led the pace attack and was consistent throughout the series. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who came into the playing XI for the second Test, bowled a match-winning spell before he was ruled out of the third Test match due to an injury. Just like Rahul and Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar is still nursing an ankle injury and is likely to miss the Rajkot Test.

It is highly unlikely that Kohli will see beyond Shami for the role of the pace spearhead in the series against England and Ishant might just pip Umesh Yadav for a place in the playing XI. As was mentioned earlier, it won’t be a surprise if Kohli decides to go in with all the three spinners and only one pacer in Mohammad Shami with Pandya as the second pacer.