Can we pick three different India XIs across formats without any repeats?

India’s depth is on full display currently, with close to 70 players representing the country across various sides and formats. The international teams are involved in T20Is and ODIs, with both potentially playing on October 3, 28 years after two India teams last played on the same day. The T20I side will then return home to face West Indies, while the Rest of India squad is taking on Ranji Trophy champions Jammu & Kashmir in the Irani Cup.

India A are also facing Australia A in a multi-day and one-day series, to round off a packed week of Indian cricket. With so many players spread across the different teams, we wondered just how strong three separate India XIs could be if each player could be picked in only one format.

So, we set out to build the strongest possible XI for each format, selecting players based on where they are best suited and, crucially, without repeating a single player across the three teams.

Test XI

Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Manav Suthar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah (C)

The headache in our Test XI was around the places of KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Jasprit Bumrah. While Gill is India’s Test and ODI captain, we have kept him for the ODI format, where his average of 65.12 makes him a player like no other.

Rahul’s case is almost the opposite. He has excelled as India’s wicketkeeper in ODIs, but as a Test opener, he and Jaiswal have provided stability at the top, with Jaiswal’s attacking approach and Rahul’s more measured game making for a well-balanced combination. Rahul has also scored nine of his 12 Test hundreds away from home, seven of them in SENA countries, highlighting his adaptability in tougher conditions. After a rough period of inconsistency, he has worked his way back into the Test team as a regular, making him a difficult player to leave out of this XI.

Bumrah’s case was the trickiest of all because he could stake a claim in any of the three XIs. There was a strong case for picking him in the T20I XI, where his four overs can consistently put pressure on batters, and he can be used at different stages of an innings. However, India’s depth in T20 cricket, combined with the priority we have given to Test cricket, meant that Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj formed our new-ball pair. Akash Deep then slots in alongside them, offering a different set of skills: his ability to move the ball and hit a testing length complements Bumrah’s control, accuracy and variations, while Siraj brings his raw pace and aggression. It gives the attack three distinct qualities rather than three bowlers performing the same role. Bumrah also leads the XI, and it is no secret that he would have also been India’s current Test skipper if not for his frequent injuries.

The rest of the XI was relatively straightforward. Rishabh Pant is the first-choice wicketkeeper, with Dhruv Jurel providing specialist batting depth as well as keeping cover, while Ravindra Jadeja gives the side both a frontline spin option and a genuine all-rounder. Manav Suthar’s bowling also differs technically from Jadeja’s despite both being left-arm orthodox spinners. Jadeja is quicker through the air and tends to attack with a flatter trajectory, skidding the ball off the surface and making it difficult for batters to use their feet, while Suthar operates with more loop and flight, giving the ball more time in the air and using changes in trajectory to draw batters forward. On paper, the XI has enough depth to compete in different conditions.

ODI XI

Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Auqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Shami

The top three are as strong as it gets, with all three capable of finding a place in any XI around the world. Shreyas Iyer features in the ODI XI instead of the T20I side, where he is currently the captain. Iyer averages 45.44 in ODIs and played an underrated role in India’s run to the 2023 ODI World Cup final. And while his T20 game has flourished, he is yet to find the same consistency for India in the format. Ishan Kishan, who has a double hundred in ODIs, has been dropped from his T20I No.3 role and earns a place in this side instead of Rahul. Hardik Pandya could find a place in either this or the T20I team, but has a bigger role to play here. He is a reliable batter, while the ability to give India 10 overs is almost impossible to replicate. He remains a clutch T20 player, but the depth India have in that format makes his role less essential there.

Axar Patel offers another all-round option, while Auqib Nabi is at No.8 as a seam-bowling all-rounder who can contribute with the bat. While his ODI debut did not go as planned, Nabi’s ability to swing the new ball and contribute useful runs makes him extremely valuable.

The biggest call in the attack was Mohammed Shami. He has not played an ODI since March 2025, but his experience was difficult to overlook. With Shami back in the XI, the choice at the other pace-bowling spot came down to Gurnoor Brar and Prasidh Krishna. The two offer somewhat similar qualities, particularly their height and ability to extract bounce, so we opted for Brar as the younger option with the potential to offer something different through his extra bounce. Kuldeep Yadav completes the attack and arguably finds his best fit in ODIs, where the longer middle-overs phase gives his wrist-spin more room to attack with flight, dip and turn.

T20I XI

Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson (C), Rajat Patidar, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh and Varun Chakravarthy

The question here was who should captain the side. Sanju Samson gets the nod, having led Rajasthan Royals for several seasons and bringing considerably more captaincy experience than the other options in this XI. Rajat Patidar was another contender, having successfully led both Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Madhya Pradesh, but Samson’s longer experience at the franchise level gives him the edge. Patidar also does not feature in India’s XI at the moment, so bringing him in and making him captain right away is not the best decision.

Shivam Dube is another player whose place was difficult to overlook. He has been a crucial part of India’s T20I setup, particularly during their T20 World Cup campaign, where his ability to clear the ropes against spin made him a valuable middle-order option. Rinku Singh, meanwhile, is perhaps the most striking selection given that he currently cannot find a regular place in India’s T20I XI, but his finishing ability makes him difficult to leave out of a hypothetical side like this. Nitish Kumar Reddy then replaces Pandya in this team, offering a seam-bowling all-rounder who can contribute in both departments.

Washington Sundar provides off-spin and another batting option, and Varun Chakravarthy is the specialist spinner. The bowling seam attack revolves around Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh and Varun Chakravarthy. Arshdeep is the specialist left-arm quick and gives the side a new-ball option as well as a death bowler, while Harshit offers a hit-the-deck option and is also a useful batter at No.8.

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