India Playing 11 for 5th Test vs England (Predicted): Focus on Rohit Sharma, Vihari, Ashwin

Birmingham, June 30: India will face England in the fifth Test at Edgbaston on Friday (July 1), eyeing a series win in that country after 2007.

India are currently leading the series 2-1, a position from the time the final Test, scheduled to be held at Old Trafford, was suspended after the Covid cases surge in India camp last year.

So, even a draw would suffice for India to complete a series win. But the build up to this match not really an ideal one for India, primarily because skipper Rohit Sharma has been tested positive for Covid-19.

Rohit has missed a few practice sessions because of him being in isolation and needs to turn a negative Covid test to stand a chance to play at Edgbaston.

But even if Rohit clears the test on Thursday (June 30), it remains to be seen that how ready —mentally and physically — the Mumbaikar is to go through the rigours of five-day cricket.

So, there could be a chance that the India team management led by head coach Rahul Dravid opts to rest him and hand over the leadership role to Jasprit Bumrah.

"Rohit is being monitored by the medical team. He is not yet ruled out. Obviously, he needs to get the negative tests before being available. So, he will have a test tonight and one may be tomorrow morning as well and then we will see," Dravid had said in a virtual press meet on Wednesday night.

“It's up to the medical team and the sports science team to decide. I haven't had a chance to see him since he is in quarantine and isolation. We will keep monitoring the situation," Dravid said.

So, what could be India’s team combination for the 5th Test. Here’s a look at India’s Playing 11 for the India vs England Test, and of course it is predicted.

1. India squad

Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohd Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Prasidh Krishna and Mayank Agarwal.

2. India’s Test record at Birmingham

India have played 7 Tests against England at Edgbaston and lost 6 of them while drawing 1 match. So, India will have to play out of their skin to beat the home side here.

3 India’s recent form in Test

India have played 2 Test series in 2022 — against South Africa away from home and faced Sri Lanka at home. India lost to SA 1-2 while beat SL hollow 2-0. So, in the last 5 Tests, India have a 3-2 win record. On the other hand, England under Ben Stokes hammered New Zealand 3-0 in their last series.

4 India Playing 11 (Predicted)

Openers: 1. Shubman Gill, 2. Cheteshwar Pujara.

Middle-order: 3. Hanuma Vihari, 4. Virat Kohli, 5. Shreyas Iyer.

Wicketkeeper: 6. Rishabh Pant

All-rounder: 7. Ravindra Jadeja

Bowlers: 8. Shardul Thakur, 9. Mohammed Shami, 10. Mohammad Siraj / R Ashwin, 11 Jasprit Bumrah (Captain).