The first Test between India and England begins at Headingley on Friday (June 20). India will not only be without Rahane in this Test, but several other key seniors like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami, and Cheteshwar Pujara will also not play. Ahead of the Headingley Test, Ajinkya Rahane has picked the playing XI in which he has not included Karun Nair and Prasidh Krishna.

Rahane, in a video on his YouTube channel, picked KL Rahul as the opener along with Yashasvi Jaiswal and placed debutant Sai Sudarshan at number three. He placed new captain Shubman Gill at number four. For number five, he picked Dhruv Jurel, followed by Rishabh Pant and two all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur. As the third fast bowler, he picked another debutant, left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh.

Karun Nair is making a comeback after eight years after a stellar performance in the domestic tournament. Prasidh Krishna was India's third pacer in Australia and was the Purple Cap winner in the recently concluded IPL 2025. Rahane also talked about Gill's challenge. He said, "I think it will be a challenging task for Shubman because in Test cricket I always feel that you have to be proactive as a captain. I am sure Shubman will do well, but it will take time because captaining in T20s and ODIs is completely different. In the Test format, sometimes you have to be one or two steps ahead of your opponents." 

Ajinkya Rahane's playing 11: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudarshan, Shubman Gill (captain), Dhruv Jurel, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, and Arshdeep Singh

PC Social media