Finally after so much no-yes England has arrived here in India to play two match test series after terror attack in Mumbai. India will start the series as firm favorite after beating the World Champion Australia in the previous test series and winning the hero honda cup by 5-0 against England in ODI Series. England team who came here with full strength squad and will be hoping to make good impression in test series after poor show in the one dayers. For India it will be the first test match after the retirement of Bengal Tiger Saurav Ganguly that means Yuvraj Singh is likely to take his place in the final playing XI. India pace bowling attack looks more solid and posses more variety than England attacks. Indian openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are in prime form and both have put together 50-plus stands in seven of their last eight innings. Harbhajan Singh and A.Mishra are also in superb bowling form and can put England middle order under pressure if both continue their good show. Indian team will also look to regain the 2nd spot in the ICC Test ranking by beating England by 1-0 margin. On the other hand England will look to beat India by 2-0 to gain fourth spot in ICC Test Ranking moving ahead of Sri Lanka. Team News
Gautam Gambhir after one match ban will make come back to the Indian team while Yuvraj Singh is likely to be included in the playing XI to fulfill Saurav Ganguly spot. On the other hand England will go into the match with full strength squad with three pacer and two spinners. G.Swann will is most likely to make his test debut against India at Chepauk.
Likely Playing XI for both teams (Match will begin from 09:30 AM India Time) India: Virendra Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, S.R.Tendulkar, V.V.S.Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, M.S.Dhoni (Captain & WK), Harbhajan Singh, A.Mishra, Z.Khan and I.Sharma England: A.Cook, A.Strauss, I.Bell, K.Pietersen (Captain), P.Collingwood, A.Flintoff, M.Prior (WK), G.Swann, J.Anderson, S.Harmision and M.Panesar. Watch out for Sachin Tendulkar: A man with the most number of runs in test cricket to his name will be keen to make a good impact at this ground. He needs six more run to get to 2000 Test runs against England only second after Sunil Gavaskar to achieve this milestone. J.Anderson: The most wicket takers for England in the current year who already make his mark in India in 2006 with six wickets and will be ready for another challenge. Pitch and conditions
Pitch at M.A. Chidambram Stadium will assist spinner as the game progresses and will also get slow and low. Rain is also likely to affect the game.
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