Sanjay Manjrekar picks India playing 11 for ENG vs IND 2025 1st Test; leaves out Arshdeep Singh

Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar picked his Team India playing XI for the first Test against England, starting at Leeds on Friday, June 20. He went with Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul as the two openers, followed by youngster Sai Sudharsan at No.3

Rahul and Jaiswal enjoyed success as an opening combination in India's previous Test series in Australia, including a double-century partnership in their lone win at Perth. Sudharsan earned his maiden call-up to the Indian Test side and will likely face stiff competition from domestic star Abhimanyu Easwaran for the No.3 spot.

Manjrekar's middle-order included skipper Shubman Gill at No.4, with Rishabh Pant and Karun Nair at 5 and 6. Gill has batted at No.3 in Tests for India since the middle of 2023, before which he exclusively opened the batting.

However, with Virat Kohli's retirement, Gill confirmed pre-match that he would bat at No.4 in the first England Test.

The former batter went with veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja at No.7 and had either Nitish Kumar Reddy or Kuldeep Yadav at No.8. His three pacers were Prasidh Krishna, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj.

Sanjay Manjrekar's India playing XI for 1st Test vs England:

KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy/Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

"Gautam Gambhir, as coach, will enjoy a young captain with him" - Sanjay Manjrekar

Gautam Gambhir will look to better his dismal Test record as India's head coach [Credit: Getty]

Sanjay Manjrekar believes Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir will enjoy working with a young Test captain in Shubman Gill. Gambhir's head coaching tenure is off to a dismal start in Tests, with the side losing the last two series against Australia and New Zealand by a combined scoreline of 1-6.

Speaking on ESPN Cricinfo about the Gambhir-Gill coach-captain pairing in Tests, Manjrekar said (via India Today):

"Gautam Gambhir, as coach, will enjoy a young captain with him. You can see him as a coach when he's playing with Suryakumar Yadav as the Indian captain versus, you know, Rohit Sharma. He'll enjoy that job. So there's going to be a better kind of relationship between the captain and the coach."

Team India appointed Gill as their Test captain after Rohit Sharma retired from the format last month. The five-Test series against England will kickstart India's 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.

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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran