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Rajkot: Top-ranked India will look to settle old scores by unleashing their spinners on a fragile-looking England when the first Test of a five-match series begins in Rajkot on Wednesday.
England were the last team to win a Test series on Indian soil when they came from behind to triumph 2-1 in 2012, but India are currently enjoying an impressive run.
Talismanic captain Virat Kohli has scored two Test double centuries this year and has led his side to four series wins in a row after taking over the captaincy in 2015.
Recent victories, including a whitewash of New Zealand, have not only dimmed memories of three consecutive Test series defeat to England -- in 2011, 2012 and 2014 -- but also whetted India's appetite for revenge.
Their prospects have been boosted by the recent sparkling form of Ravichandran Ashwin, who became the second quickest bowler to reach 200 wickets during India's 3-0 demolition of the Black Caps.
The off-spinner will look to exploit an England batting line-up that struggled on slow and low pitches during their recent tour of Bangladesh which saw them lose a Test to the minnows for the first time.
Alastair Cook's men, fourth in the world rankings, were cut down to size by teenage Bangladeshi spinner Mehedi Hasan who bagged 19 wickets from the two games last month.
The second Test upset also reminded England of shortcomings in their own spinning department but Cook said he was confident that Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali and rookie Zafar Ansari would deliver, despite just having 105 wickets between them.
England have also brought back 39-year-old Gareth Batty while Pakistan great Saqlain Mushtaq is there to mentor the spinners as they confront a formidable Indian batting line-up.
Mushtaq is likely to have a calming effect in a dressing room, and Cook believes his side will bounce back from the Bangladesh defeat and should never be written off.
India have some nagging concerns at the top of the batting order. Despite trying out five different combinations in their last 14 Tests, India have failed to post a century opening partnership.
With injured openers Shikhar Dhawan and Lokesh Rahul ruled out of the first two Tests, selectors are scurrying for new combinations.
Teams from
India: Virat Kohli (capt), Murali Vijay, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Hardik Pandya, Karun Nair, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Jayant Yadav
England: Alastair Cook (capt), Moeen Ali, Zafar Ansari, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Gareth Batty, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Ben Duckett, Steven Finn, Haseeb Hameed, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes
Stats and trivia
Match facts
9-13 November 2016
Start time 0930 local (0400 GMT)
