Ravi Shastri Picks Shardul Thakur Over Nitish Reddy, Snubs Kuldeep for 1st Test vs England

Ravi Shastri Picks Shardul Thakur Over Nitish Reddy: Former India cricketer and head coach Ravi Shastri has revealed his pick between Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy to start in the playing XI for England Tests. India are set to take on England in a five-match Test series beginning from June 20. Ahead of the all-important rubber, the team management faces a huge dilemma about whom to pick, Shardul and Nitish for the first few games.

Speaking on The ICC Review, Shastri, who picked his combination for the first game at the Headingley, backed Shardul Thakur ahead of Nitish Reddy, purely because of his bowling. Not to forget, Thakur smashed an unbeaten 122 in the intra-squad game in Kent a few days back.

"I would go with three fast bowlers, (plus) Shardul Thakur. I know it'll be a tough one between Shardul and Nitish Reddy, but you have to see who bowls how much. If Reddy is going to give you 12, 14 overs, then he might get the nod because of his batting," the former India cricketer said.

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"It would be (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, and with him will be KL. Rahul, because I think this is a big tour for him. He's the most experienced of the batsmen," Shastri began as he listed his side, as quoted from the official website of ICC. "He opened last time when India toured England, got a hundred, (and) had a good tour. So I would hope for him to open the innings," he said. "Three, I'll go with the youngster, Sai Sudarshan," he added. "Whatever I've seen of him, he's very impressive. This will be good exposure for him, this tour," he noted “I would go with three fast bowlers, (plus) Shardul Thakur. I know it’ll be a tough one between Shardul and Nitish Reddy, but you have to see who bowls how much. If Reddy is going to give you 12 or 14 overs, then he might get the nod because of his batting,” Shastri told ICC Review.

Sai Sudharsan has emerged as one of the best performers in Indian cricket in the last few years, and in the recently concluded Indian Premier League 2025, he won the Orange Cap. He has been looked at as the next big thing in Indian cricket, and many experts have backed him to achieve greatness.

Meanwhile, Ravi Shastri further picked the comeback man Karun Nair at the No.5 position and the Test vice-captain Rishabh Pant at the No.6 spot.

Talking about Karun Nair, Ravi Shastri said that the senior batter has put in hard work to stage a comeback in the Indian team, and his red-ball form makes him an easy selection choice.

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He said: “In all probability, depending on what current form is, it'll be Karun Nair. He bats at five, it's a long time since he played for India. Six will be (Rishabh) Pant. I think he (Nair) has worked really hard. He's just worked his way back into the side. The number of runs he's got in first-last cricket is incredible.

"The three fast bowlers would be, I would go with Prasidh Krishna, I would go with Mohammed Siraj and of course Jasprit Bumrah.

"In Leeds, if it's overcast and it's cloudy, there might be the temptation of going with the left-armer Ashdeep Singh as well. So it will be Prasad, Prasid Krishna/Arshdeep but the other two will be Siraj and Bumrah."

After an off day following the early conclusion to the intra-squad match, India reached Leeds on Wednesday. Current head coach Gautam Gambhir united with the squad, having earlier left the camp owing to personal reasons. Under new captain Shubman Gill, India will be looking to win their first Test series in England since 2007.

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