India vs England 2022: THESE batters to open for Team India in Birmingham Test, hints BCCI

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Rohit Sharma's Team India is gearing up to play the final Test match of the five-match Test series against England at the Edgbaston, Birmingham starting from July 1. The final Test match was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the Indian camp. India is leading the series 2-1 and will be looking to claim their third Test series win on English soil. However, everything has changed for Team India from the last time they visited England. Virat Kohli stepped down from the captaincy and Rohit Sharma took over, Rahul Dravid was named head coach as Ravi Shastri's tenure got over. 

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As India set up their pre-series camp in Leicestershire, BCCI drops a big hint on who will be the opening partner of Rohit Sharma in the Birmingham Test. KL Rahul, who was supposed to be Rohit's partner has been ruled out of the series while Mayank Agarwal is also not available for selection. This leaves team mangement with two choices of either picking Shubman Gill or ask Cheteshwar Pujara to open the batting with Rohit. 

Gill is coming into the series after an outstanding season of IPL with the bat. The right-hand batsman played a vital role in helping Gujarat Titans win their maiden IPL title in their debut season. While on the other hand, Pujara had a record-breaking county season ahead of the series. Giving Pujara the opening slot will give Rohit the option of slotting in Shreyas Iyer in the middle order. 

As per the Indian Cricket Team's official Instagram handle, Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma will be opening the batting for the side. "#TeamIndia openers captain @rohitsharma45 and @shubmangill are getting into the groove on Day 1 of our nets session," BCCI wrote in the caption of the video where Gill and Rohit are sweating it out in the nets. 

India's Probable Playing XI for rescheduled fifth Test vs England: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur

India’s squad for the rescheduled fifth Test vs England: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Srikar Bharat (wk).