India vs England Test Series: India's predicted 16-man squad and starting XI

Bowlers: Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami

Not often does the expression 'spoiled for choice' apply when it comes to choosing Indian fast bowlers, but India is so blessed with a great pace battery that it is difficult to choose among them.

Ravichandran Ashwin occupies the sole spinner's spot, and few will argue against him, for he offers more with the bat and with the ball than Ravindra Jadeja. This, combined with his previous county experience, makes him a viable proposition as the spinning all-rounder in the XI.

The pace bowlers in the XI - Bhuvneshwar, Bumrah, and Shami - have been picked on the basis of their performance on the South Africa tour. Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah have emerged as India's best pacers across formats, and despite the fact that both were predominantly considered limited overs bowlers before the tour of South Africa, their respective performances in South Africa were outstanding and there is little doubt that they will occupy two of the slots for pacers. The third slot, which is a toss-up between Yadav, Sharma. and Shami goes to Shami on the basis of his performance in South Africa and ability to reverse-swing the ball. Even if India start with this bowling attack, they may switch it up to a four-pacer attack, like they did in the last Test against South Africa, in which case either Ishant or Umesh will play instead of Ashwin.