Shardul Thakur or Nitish Reddy, who should start in England? Ravi Shastri answers
Former India cricketer and head coach Ravi Shastri has revealed his pick between Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy to start in the playing XI for England Tests. India are set to take on England in a five-match Test series beginning from June 20. Ahead of the all-important rubber, the team management faces a huge dilemma about whom to pick, Shardul and Nitish for the first few games.advertisementWhile Nitish was impressive with the bat in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, Shardul has been in phenomenal form in the tour matches leading up to the series. Recently, Ravi Shastri shared his views on the debate and said that he would pick Shardul as his first choice due to his ability to bowl more."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," Shastri said on ICC Review.
Furthermore, Shastri also named his three-men pace attack, picking Prasidh Krishna alongside Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah. The former head coach also stated that the team management could also go with Arshdeep Singh, if conditions are overcast in Leeds and are conducive to swing.advertisement"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,' he added.Both Arshdeep and Prasidh Krishna haven't played a single Test in England, however the former has experience of playing county cricket under his belt, having played for Kent. Hence, it remains to be seen if the team management will hand a debut cap to Arshdeep or will pick either of Akash Deep or Prasidh Krishna, who have played a few Tests in their career so far.
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