KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 3

Indian skipper across all formats Virat Kohli is all set to lead the team in the upcoming test series against England, the first match of which will be played in Chennai from Friday.

In absence of Virat Kohli during the last two test matches in the recent Australian series, Ajinkya Rahana had taken the responsibility to usher the young Indian side to a memorable 2-1 series victory.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya, who had last seen representing the national team during the T20 series in Australia, too has begun training with the squad in Chennai.

The 'hit-man' Rohit Sharma and rising star Shubhman Gill, who has already proved his mettle in the prior five-day format contested in Australia, are expected to open the innings at Chennai's M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, on Friday.

Similarly, India will yet again bet on with Cheteshwar Pujara's consistency and patience at No 3, while with skipper Kohli back in the side, he is expected to seen batting at his usual No. 4 position--the slot long held by cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar.

In the same manner, Kohli will be followed closely by his vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant, both of whom had contributed immensely in the previous Australian test series, at No 5 and 6 respectively.

Given that India is playing at home on wickets suited generally for spinners, the side is speculated to slot in an extra spinner in addition to Ravi Chandran Ashwin at No 7, for which finger spinner Axar Patel could be favoured over leggie Kuldeep Yadav, in Rabindra's Jadeja absenteeism.

Washington Sundar is expected to appear playing for Indian squad which will most probably include the tall bloke Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah, both of whom are making a come-back following injuries.

The test squad has also enlisted the likes of KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, Mohammad Siraj and Shardul Thakur, which definitely bolsters the bench strength of the side.