India Drops Cheteshwar Pujara from the Edgbaston Test

The first Test match in the five-match Test series between India and England has already started and India has already made a controversial decision.

Cricket news: Pujara had played County for Yorkshire and had managed only 172 runs from 12 innings

The Men in Blue had a fantastic T20I series and wo the series 2-1, but they could not hold on to the momentum and lost the ODI series 1-2 despite winning the first match and taking the lead.

India are currently the top ranked Test team while England are placed fifth but the home team is expected to dominate over the visitors in their home surroundings.

In the first Test England had won the toss and decided to bat first. Before the match India had announced their lineup and the team selection literally furrowed a few eyebrows.

The right-handed middle-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara was benched and KL Rahul was brought into his place. The top three batsmen of India now features Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul.

Pujara had played in the County Championship for Yorkshire but could not impress much as he scored just 172 runs from 12 innings and even failed to score a half-century in the tournament.

Even in the practice game against Essex at Chelmsford, he could not deliver. However Shikhar Dhawan also scored a golden duck in the warmup and the entire cricketing fraternity was hoping to see Rahul in place of Dhawan.

It was expected that Pujara will find his place in the squad because of his prowess with the willow, however things panned out differently.

Left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav also did not find a place in the playing XI despite having a phenomenal performance in the limited overs tour.

The visitors have gone for three pacers in the like of Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma while Ravichandran Ashwin will be the lone spinner.

India (Playing XI): Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma

England (Playing XI): Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Joe Root(c), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow(w), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson