The much-awaited five-Test series between India and England is slated to get underway on August 4 at Trent Bridge.

Two days ahead of the opening Test, India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane addressed a press conference, wherein he dropped a hint that Shardul Thakur's impressive lower-order batting could be used during the marquee series against England.

See Also: Shardul Thakur has proved he can be an all-rounder, says Bharat Arun

After recovering from the back injury, India all-rounder Hardik Pandya is not bowing at full throttle and it is one of the main reasons why he is being overlooked in the Test squad.

In Pandya’s absence, Rahane believes Shardul is the best bet with the willow among the pace bowling options.

Shardul Thakur's last outing in Test cricket was against Australia at the Gabba earlier this year, where he impressed one and all with his all-round exploits, taking 7 wickets in the match and playing a priceless knock of 67 in India’s first innings.

"Everyone is different. Hardik, what he did in 2018 was different for us. Shardul can bat. You have seen Shardul bat in Australia and he did well in domestic cricket as well," Rahane said about Thakur, who has seven half-centuries to his name in First-Class cricket.

"(Jasprit) Bumrah , (Mohammed) Shami, (Mohammed) Siraj, Umesh (Yadav) and Ishant (Sharma) are putting in the effort in the nets. Whatever 20-30 runs we score in end, matters a lot.

"It's good that they are wanting to bat for at least 10-12 minutes in the nets. See, result comes later and what is important is process and working hard and contribute as a member of the team. We are hoping for some contributions from our tail-enders."

When posed a question on "intent", Rahane said every batsman should back his own methods.

"Obviously, we sat together and discussed about our batting plans but in England, it is challenging conditions for a batsman. Everyone has different plans and everyone needs to back his own methods," he said.

"Communication is key for batting unit but individually I feel everyone should back their own methods because conditions change quickly over here in 15-20 minutes sometimes. It's about getting used to conditions quickly. As a batting unit, we are ready."

With Mayank Agarwal being ruled out of the first Test after taking a blow on his helmet, there is speculation that Cheteshwar Pujara could be promoted to open the batting but Rahane dismissed the suggestion.

"Pujara is our No 3 batsman. Who will open the innings, we are still finalising our combination. Pujara has been really solid for us at No 3 and as for opening pair, the captain, coach and management will decide."

Rahane said the visitors are fully aware that England could dish out green top surfaces during the series, which will kick-start the second edition of World Test Championship (WTC).

"We expect England to give us such kind of wickets and its their home conditions and we are not going to think too much about it.

"Winning each and every moment in Test cricket is really important. We are not really worried what kind of wickets are given to us."

(With PTI inputs)