1st Test, Preview: Kohli Returns To Lead India Against Buoyant England

New dad Virat Kohli will return to lead India against England in the first Test of the four-match series beginning Friday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium after his deputy Ajinkya Rahane proved his leade

The series will also see the return of Hardik Pandya to the Test fold. Pandya had played the ODIs in Australia as a batsman but could not bowl as he wasn't fit enough to do that.

Kohli had earlier said that Pandya can make the Test team only as an all-rounder. Thus, the forthcoming series will be a test of his all-round skills.

India needs to beat England in the Test series by one of the following margins: 2-0, 2-1, 3-0, 3-1, or 4-0 to enter the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) final, slated to be played in June at the Lord's, London.

For England, any of the following margins will guarantee them a place in the final against New Zealand: 3-0, 3-1, 4-0.

India Squad (First Two Tests): Virat Kohli (c), Mayank Agarwal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav

England Squad (First Two Tests): Joe Root (c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Ollie Pope