Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg ignored KL Rahul and Axar Patel for the opening Test match against Bangladesh. Hogg picked India’s playing XI for the first Test, which will be played in Chennai from September 19.

Hogg picked Indian captain Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal as openers. Shubman Gill bats at number three whereas Virat Kohli takes his usual number four position.

Hogg wants Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja to bat at number five to have a right and left-hand batting combination at the crease. The former left-arm spinner wants Sarfaraz Khan to bat at number six and Rishabh Pant takes the number seven place in the batting order.

Hogg picked Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah as the bowling battery for the hosts.

Brad Hogg said on his YouTube Channel, “The XI that I am going or the first Test match against Bangladesh for India – Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma open the batting. Gill at three, Kohli at 4, and Jadeja coming at five just to keep that left-handed right-hand combination going. Sarfaraz Khan, Pant and then you’re into the bowlers, where you’ve got Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Siraj, and Bumrah.”

Hogg feels the same team will also go well in the Australian conditions for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar trophy.

“That team will go pretty well down in Australia as well. So, they’ve got to start warming up for the Australian summer. India, so this will be a good start for them. No KL Rahul or Axar Patel in my playing XI,” he added.

India’s squad for 1st Test vs Bangladesh: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal.