Shardul Thakur is all set to return to the India cricket Test team for the first time since December 2023 in the series against England. The all-rounder, who was out of the favour of selectors over the last year, is most likely to accompany the team to the UK. With the return of Thakur, there will be very little need for Nitish Kumar Reddys services. India could be considering taking just Thakur and leaving the youngster behing insead.
Thakur enough, Nitish not needed
Shardul is a much better and more experienced all-rounder than Nitish. The former already has the experience of playing in England in the past, with 10 wickets and 122 runs from 4 matches. Overall, Thakur has played 11 Tests so far, and has 31 wickets and 331 runs.
Further, Shardul had a phenomenal run in Ranji Trophy 2024/25, finishing as Mumbai’s highest run-getter in the tournament. Turning out to be a match-winner for Rahane and co, the all-rounder amassed 505 runs and 35 wickets from 9 matches, averaging 42.08 with the bat and 22.62 with the ball.
His fine form continued in IPL 2025 as well, where he entered LSG as an injury replacement after going unsold in the mega auction. In 9 matches, he has already bagged 12 wickets. His current form is much better than that of Nitish Reddy.
The Hyderabad all-rounder, on the other hand, witnessed a meteroic rise in 2024 following the IPL. He was fast-tracked to the Test team for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy where he put up some commendable all-round performances, including scoring a fighting century.
However, his form off-late has been a point of concern. Firstly, he hasn’t bowled at all for SRH in IPL 2025. With the bat, he has simply failed to fire, managing to score just 173 runs in 10 innings. Without Reddy offering any support to bowling, he is simply does not deserve to be included in the team, either alongside or without Thakur.
Besides, Shardul has the experience of playing in SENA nations than compared to Reddy who has only played one series in Australia. Given that India’s batting and bowling will be better bolstered by Shardul’s inclusion, it is only wise for the selectors to not pick Reddy for the England series.
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