Former India head coach Ravi Shastri, on Tuesday, had his say on the “tough” debate around the seam-bowling all-rounder’s spot heading into the opening Test match against England, starting June 20 in Leeds, as he picked his India playing XI.
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.
Thakur was part of the squad in India’s last tour to England in 2021, where he had picked up eight wickets in six innings, and also scored 122 runs, comprising two fifties down the order.
In the other selection dilemma around the bowling attack, over who would be the sole spinner, Shastri put his weight behind Ravindra Jadeja over Kuldeep Yadav. He backed the all-rounder for the No. 7 spot in the batting line-up.
For the pacers, he reckoned the toss-up between Prasidh Krishna and left-armer Arshdeep Singh could be condition-dependent.
“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.