Former India opener Wasim Jaffer is quite active on social media, especially on Twitter. More often than not, he delivers a dose of entertainment to fans through his funny tweets. Jaffer, the batting coach of Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the IPL, is widely known for tickling fans’ funny bones with his art of sharing memes and epic responses.
On Sunday (January 30), the Mumbaikar came up with his playing XI of India for the first Test against England, starting from Friday (February 05) at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Jaffer picked Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill a⛄s the opening pair. Both Rohit and Shubman did a good job in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.
Jaffer then picked Cheteshwar Pujara, regular India skipper Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant for the middle-order.
Pujara, Rahane and Pant are in supreme touch after the successful series down under. On the other hand, Kohli is making a comeback in the squad as he played only first Test in Adelaide. After which, the Indian captain returned home to attend the b♔irth o💝f his baby girl.
For the spinners-cum-allrounders, Jaffer went with Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwinಌ in the side. The 42-year-old included Axar because as per him the English batters struggle against the left-arm spinners.
In Jaffer’s XI, India’s pace attack shall be headed by Jasprit Bumrah. He reckoned that considering the pitch conditions, the second pacer should be selected between Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Siraj. Jaffer did the same for the remaining spot. He felt that there could be a toss-up between Kuldeep Yadav and Shardul Thakur.
Here is Wasim Jaffer’s playing XI of the Indian team for the first Test:
ꦦVirat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav/Shardul Thakur, Ishant 🦋Sharma/Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah.
India's Playing XI for 1st Test(imo):
1 Rohit
2 Gill
3 Pujara
4 Kohli
5 Rahane
6 Pant
7 Axar*
8 Ashwin
9 Kuldeep/Thakur
10 Ishant/Siraj
11 Bumrah
Question is about 2 spots dependin🌱g on combination + pitch.What's your XI?
*Eng have huge weakness vs left arm spin.
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14)