Ravi Ashwin picks India’s playing XI for first Test vs England; Nitish Kumar Reddy excluded

Former Indian spinner and analyst Ravi Ashwin has selected India’s playing XI for the first Test against England, scheduled to start on June 20 at Headingley, Leeds, in the new World Test Championship cycle.

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Ashwin has picked the left-right opening combination of Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul. Later, he included Sai Sudharsan at No.3 with Shubman Gill, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, and Shardul Thakur taking up the next batting positions.

Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna form the pace battery. Interestingly, Jadeja would be the sole spinner in the playing XI. Also, Ashwin has omitted the all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who had an impressive Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

"For No.6 it could be either Karun Nair or Dhruv Jurel. You cannot ignore Karun's form, but I think there is a chance that Jurel comes into the mix. When Bumrah broke down in Australia, we did not have bowling options. So at No.8 do you play Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, or another frontline pacer?" Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

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"KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna," Ashwin added.

Furthermore, Ashwin has also picked the leading run-scorers and wicket-takers from both teams. While he went ahead with Chris Woakes as the leading wicket-taker for England if he plays all five games, he predicted Mohammed Siraj to lead the charts for India.

On the other hand, he has predicted Rishabh Pant ahead of KL Rahul to do well and lead the run-scoring charts for India, while he felt Joe Root or Ben Duckett to perform well for England with the willow.

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"If Chris Woakes plays all five matches, I would say he would be the leading wicket-taker of the series, or maybe even Shoaib Bashir. From India, since Bumrah will not play all matches, I think Siraj will be the leading wicket-taker. Have to go with KL Rahul as the leading run-scorer, but because he is opening the batting, he might have a few first innings glitches. So, I will go with Rishabh Pant instead. Rishabh can only get himself out. Can't look past Joe Root for England, while Ben Duckett is also a good shout," Ashwin observed.

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