Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar has picked his playing XI for IND vs ENG 1st Test and made some glaring omissions. The five-match Test series will kick start from June 20 onwards, with Headingley, Leeds set to host the first game. Ahead of the contest, Bangar picked his playing XI which had some surprise inclusions and exclusions.
Bangar leaves Jadeja out of playing XI for 1st Test
During a discussion on Star Sports, Bangar picked Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul as his openers while naming Abhimanyu Easwaran as his number three. The India A captain is yet to debut for India in Tests although he has been a part of the main squad on several occasions. By naming Easwaran as his number three pick, the ex-India batting coach has left out Sai Sudharsan from the line-up.
Bangar opted for Nitish Kumar Reddy in the line-up instead of the experienced Shardul Thakur. He said that in his view, the Andhra Pradesh all-rounder was a bater who could bowl and not the other way around.
“I see Nitish as a batter who can bowl. I can’t see him as a bowler who can bat. However, Nitish starts in my team ahead of Shardul. Shardul doesn’t play in my first XI. Nitish Reddy will play first,” Bangar observed.
Justifying Jadeja’s exclusion, Bangar explained that it would be best if India played Kuldeep whenever they wanted to field just one spinner.
“It will be a condition-based call on whether you would play one spinner or two spinners. Whenever the Indian team wants to play one spinner on this tour, I feel it should be Kuldeep Yadav because there is a huge question about the fitness of your trump card, Bumrah,” he added.
Bangar’s playing XI for 1st Test
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- KL Rahul
- Abhimanyu Easwaran
- Shubman Gill (C)
- Karun Nair
- Rishabh Pant
- Nitish Kumar Reddy
- Kuldeep Yadav
- Prasidh Krishna
- Mohammed Siraj
- Jasprit Bumrah
