Shubman Gill at Virat Kohli's No. 4; Aakash Chopra Picks India's Likely Playing XI For 1st Test vs England

India vs England Test: In a few days, India take on England in a much-awaited five-match Test series, which will also mark the start of a new World Test Championship cycle. And hence all the speculation is around the Indian squad, now that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have retired. As per reports, Shubman Gill is the frontrunner to lead the side. 

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With no Rohit and Kohli, it would be interesting to see who gets picked and who misses out. Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra picked his squad for the tour and one has to admit - he has made a number of interesting choices. 

India's Predicted XI For 1st Test vs England

As per Chopra, Gill will not open, instead, he should slot in at Kohli's preferred No. 4 spot. The former Kolkata Knight Riders cricketer wants young Yashasvi Jaiswal to open with KL Rahul. At No. 3, Chopra reckons there would be a toss-up between Sai Sudarshan and Devdutt Padikkal. At No, 5 would be Rishabh Pant. 

"I am going with Yashasvi Jaiswal, with KL Rahul alongside him. One doesn't have to think much. Both did well in the BGT as well. This will be Yashasvi's first England tour. So I really hope that he does well. The last England tour was good for KL Rahul, but you cannot start the tour well and finish poorly," he said.

"This means captain Shubman Gill will go to No. 4. Firstly, I am saying he will become the captain. That's what the reports are suggesting. I see him going down the order. This is where he will settle down, as a No. 4 batter for India in Test matches," Chopra said on his YouTube channel. 

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Chopra's Predicted XI

Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudarshan/ Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur/ Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Prasidh Krishna