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Why Is Shardul Thakur Playing Over Nitish Kumar Reddy In England vs India 1st Test?

Aashay Chopade

Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kimar Reddy (Source:X.com)Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kimar Reddy (Source:X.com)

England and India are all set to kickstart the five-match Test series at the Headingley. The home team has won an important toss, and have decided to bowl first on a pitch that is likely to provide help to their seamers.

The young Indian team, on the other hand, has made some tough decisions in terms of their playing XI for the game. Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair are playing, while Shardul Thakur has been preferred for the seam-bowling all-rounder spot over Nitish Kumar Reddy.

Shardul Thakur Preferred Due To His Superiors Bowling Skills And Experience

The reason for Shardul Thakur's inclusion is that he has been in good form lately. His main asset is his bowling, and as India already have Ravindra Jadeja slotted in for number seven, they have preferred to go with a bowling all-rounder rather than Nitish Kumar Reddy, who is mainly a batter. 

Shardul also scored a century in the intra-squad match between India and India A, which has helped him gain more confidence of the team management. He has also done well in England in the past and scored a crucial fifty in the Oval when India last toured the UK. Overall, Shardul Thakur has the knack of delivering with both bat and ball in crucial junctures and that helped him get a place over Nitish Kumar Reddy.

Thus, Nitish Kumar Reddy will consider himself a bit unlucky to miss out. He scored a century at MCG on the tough Australian tour and was one of India's shining lights. However, with a change in arsenal for this series, India have decided to go with a bowling all-rounder in contrast to their batting all-rounder preference in Australia.