The England and Indian teams are two of the strongest Test sides in the world, and we pick a combined current XI, based on ICC rankings.

We have decided to form the XI by following these rules: five highest-ranked batsmen across both teams are picked, the highest-ranked all-rounder, and the four highest-ranked bowlers.

The ICC Test rankings as of July 27, 2021, are taken into account.

Rohit Sharma

Current ranking: 6, Current rating: 759
39 Tests, 2,679 runs @ 46.18

The opener looked comfortable at the crease during his knocks of 34 and 30 in the World Test Championship final last month. He has emerged as India’s number one opener in the format after an impressive last few months in Test cricket — he averaged 32.25 in Australia in two Tests and followed it up by scoring 345 runs in four games against England at home.

Cheteshwar Pujara

Current ranking: 16, Current rating: 678
86 Tests, 6,267 runs @ 46.08

Though Pujara usually bats at number three, he has opened five times in his career with a high score of 145*, which means he opens in our XI. The Saurashtra player did not have a good outing in the WTC final, scoring 8 and 15 in the two innings, and has not scored a fifty in his last seven innings. He, however, played a big part in India’s series win Down Under by tiring out the bowlers, scoring 271 runs in 928 deliveries

Joe Root

Current ranking: 5, Current rating: 797
105 Tests, 8,714 runs @ 48.68

The English skipper has had a stellar 2021, scoring 891 runs in eight games at an average of 55.68 and a high score of 228. No other batsman has scored more than 660 runs this year in Test cricket, with only Dimuth Karunaratne scoring three tons (the same as Root). He has also picked up 9 wickets, including a best of 5-8!

Virat Kohli

Current ranking: 4, Current rating: 812
92 Tests, 7,547 runs @ 52.04

Though Kohli is yet to get a hundred since November 2019, he has scored some crucial seventies and eighties in the last few months. Since the series against Australia, Kohli has three fifties, along with a fighting 44 in the WTC Final, in ten innings. Kohli is also the only batsman from either team to have a current rating of more than 800 in Tests.

Ajinkya Rahane

Current ranking: 13, Current rating: 700
74 Tests, 4,647 runs @ 41.12

While the No.5 has struggled for form in recent times, he has a habit of making crucial hundreds at crucial times, notably at the MCG, when his Boxing Day Test ton kickstarted India’s resurgence to claim one of the greatest series wins of all times against Australia.

Ben Stokes

Current all-rounder ranking: 2, Current all-rounder rating: 377
71 Tests, 4,631 runs @ 37.04
163 wickets @ 31.38

The England cricketer has seen been in fine form since his epic knock of 135* at Headingley in the Ashes in 2019. He has scored 1,152 runs post the knock, in 16 matches at an average of 41.14, and has also picked up 28 wickets at an average of 27.32. Though Ravindra Jadeja also has a current all-rounder rating of 377, Stokes pips the Indian as he is ranked higher in the batting list (15, as against Jadeja’s 40).

Rishabh Pant

Current ranking: 7, Current rating: 752
21 Tests, 1,403 runs @ 43.84

Pant has emerged as the toast of the nation after his fearless knocks in Australia that helped India seal the series. From the beginning of the Australia tour, the wicketkeeper has scored 589 runs at a strike-rate of 71.56 in eight games. No other batsman has a strike-rate of over 70 in this interim (min. 500 runs scored).

Ravichandran Ashwin

Current ranking: 2, Current rating: 865
79 Tests, 413 wickets @ 24.56

Ashwin created headlines when he scalped 32 wickets in the home series against England earlier this year. He was impressive in the WTC Final against New Zealand as well, picking up match figures of 4-45. Since the start of the year, Ashwin has grabbed 38 wickets — ten more than Jack Leach, who is in second place. Ashwin also has a hundred with the bat this year. He is the only bowler from either side to have a current ICC rating of more than 800.

Stuart Broad

Current ranking: 7, Current rating: 793
148 Tests, 523 wickets @ 27.72

Stuart Broad is the highest wicket-taker in the world in Tests in the last 24 months, picking up 79 wickets in 21 games at an impressive average of 21.83. He has a bowling strike-rate of 48.2 with two five-fors.

James Anderson

Current ranking: 8, Current rating: 783
162 Tests, 617 wickets @ 26.67

Anderson has the best average for England away from home in the last two years. In six away Tests, Anderson has picked up 23 wickets at an average of 15.30 — the best among all bowlers from the team who have picked up a wicket in this span.

Ishant Sharma

Current ranking: 16, Current rating: 706
102 Tests, 306 wickets @ 32.18

The Indian quick has a bowling average of 17.79 since July 27, 2019, picking up 39 wickets in this interim. It is the second-best average in the world among bowlers with at least 35 Test wickets.

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