Former Indian cricketer Deep Dasgupta has left Sai Sudharsan out of his playing XI for the 1st Test against England. The five-match Test series is scheduled to commence from June 20 onwards, with Headingley, Leeds set to host the first game. Dasgupta picked three frontline pacers and two spinners in his playing XI for IND vs ENG 1st Test while making some glaring omissions.
No Sudharsan in Dasgupta’s playing XI for 1st Test
Speaking on Star Sports, Dasgupta explained the rationale behind picking Karun Nair over Sudharsan. He said that although the Tamil Nadu batter was in good form, he would want the experienced Karun in his playing XI. He said that since the Vidarbha batter was returning to the team after a long time, he might as well directly be included in the playing XI.
“I have been thinking over the last few days who I would play between Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan. I will go with Karun Nair. He has the experience, is playing after such a long time, and you might as well play him if he is in the team. Sai Sudharsan is 23 years old and is in good form. You want to use that form properly, but I will still go with Karun,” Dasgupta said.
The former Indian wicketkeeper decided to include two spinners – Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav – in his playing XI. He backed for the latter to be included in the playing XI for all matches unless and until the conditions were too seam-friendly. Further, Dasgupta left out Shardul Thakur from his line-up and instead opted for Nitish Kumar Reddy instead. Meanwhile, his three pace options included Bumrah, Siraj and Krishna which meant there was no place for Arshdeep Singh.
Dasgupta’s playing XI for 1st Test
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- KL Rahul
- Karun Nair
- Shubman Gill (C)
- Rishabh Pant (WK)
- Nitish Kumar Reddy
- Ravindra Jadeja
- Kuldeep Yadav
- Jasprit Bumrah
- Mohammed Siraj
- Prasidh Krishna
