The India vs England 1st Test will begin in just two days’ time. We still don’t know how the pitch at Headingley will play. It’s been an unusually dry summer in England and many expect that batters will enjoy their time in the middle and spinners can come into the game more.
Shardul Thakur over Nitish Reddy
However, former India head coach Ravi Shastri still reckons that Shubman Gill and co. should play four fast bowlers and one spinner. This means that Nitish Reddy won’t have any in Shastri’s preferred India XI for the first Test. He’s decided to play Sai Sudharsan at number three and Karun Nair at five. This means, Dhruv Jurel who was impressed against England Lions, can’t play.
His reasoning for the bowling selections is that he thinks it’ll be cloudy and overcast at Headingley. That’s why it’s better to pick Shardul Thakur over Reddy. He thinks the third fast bowler should be either Prasidh Krishna or Arshdeep Singh.
“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.
Ravi Shastri’s India Playing XI
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna / Arshdeep Singh
Bench: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Prasidh Krishna / Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep
Shubman Gill & co. reach Leeds
Team India has landed in Leeds for the first Test match of the tour against England. The Headingley Test will start on June 20 and after playing an intra-squad match against the A-side, Team India has reached Leeds. To prepare for the first game, India will hold two practice sessions. The first is on the morning of June 18 and the second in the afternoon on June 19.
