India vs England, 1st Test: Date, Time, Venue, H2H Record And Playing XI

The five-match Test series between India and England will begin on Thursday. India's batting mainstay Virat Kohli has pulled out of the first two Tests due to personal reasons which "demand his presence and undivided attention", the BCCI said on Monday. The Board said it will name a replacement for the star batter soon.

News agency PTI reported that one among the two heavyweight India 'A' performers -- Rajat Patidar of Madhya Pradesh and Sarfaraz Khan of Mumbai -- are frontrunners to replace Kohli. However, both have been named in the India ‘A’ squad for 2nd four-day match against England Lions starting January 24.

There is talk of including veteran Cheteshwar Pujara in the line-up considering his experience of 20,000 plus first-class runs, including 7000 in Tests. However, it will be interesting if the current selection committee under Agarkar is ready to look back or move forward.

The batting line-up for the first Test will likely comprise Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, and KS Bharat.

India head coach Rahul Dravid on Tuesday said KL Rahul will not be keeping wickets in the five-match Test series and it will be a toss up between KS Bharat and Dhruv Jurel for the wicketkeeper-batter role.

"Rahul will not be playing as a wicket-keeper in this series and we are clear about that in the selection itself. We have picked two other wicket-keepers and obviously Rahul did a fantastic job for us in South Africa and really played a big part in helping us draw the series," Dravid said in a press conference.

"But considering five Test matches (against England) and playing in these conditions the selection will be between the two other keepers we have," he explained.

England captain Ben Stokes is like a 'greyhound' and he is 'good to go' for the Test series, coach Brendon McCullum said on Monday. The 32-year-old Stokes underwent surgery in November last for his long-standing left-knee problem.

Stokes had trained with the squad during their camp in Abu Dhabi last week, but did not bowl. He is unlikely to bowl in the Test series also.

"I've seen him running around and I think he's good to go. We'll obviously make that call as late as what we need to. But he's put all the work in, and we'll just have to wait and see," McCullum was quoted as saying by BBC.

'Bazball' has changed the dynamics of England's batting approach in Test cricket and McCullum is very clear that irrespective of outcome, his team won't deviate from its aggressive tactics against India.

The term 'Bazball', coined after McCullum's nickname 'Baz' and the attacking philosophy that he endorses, has also found its pride of place in 'Collins dictionary'.

"We have got a huge challenge against a very good Indian team in five Tests in India," McCullum said at the Royal Challengers Bangalore Innovation Lab's Leaders Meet India in December.

"I am excited about it because you want to test yourself against the best side and I genuinely believe that India is the best in their own condition. It is going to be a good challenge for us. If we have success then fabulous, if we don't, then I know we will go down in the style that we want to go down," McCullum said.

The 1st Test of the India vs England series will be played from Thursday, January 25 to Monday, January 29. The match will begin at 9:30 AM IST.

The 1st IND vs ENG Test match will be played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

• Played: 131

• Won by India: 31

• Won by England: 50

• Draw: 50

Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes, Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, Jack Leach.

(With PTI inputs)