Former India National Cricket Team head coach Ravi Shastri has named his India playing XI for the first Test of the five-match series against the England National Cricket Team.
India and England will lock horns with each other in the Test series opener from June 20. The match between the Shubman Gill-led side and the Ben Stokes-led team will be hosted by Headingley in Leeds.
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Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair picked in Ravi Shastri’s playing XI
Speaking on The ICC Review, Ravi Shastri picked Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul as the openers of Team India and slotted the young batting sensation Sai Sudharsan at No.3, backing him for a Test debut, followed by skipper Shubman Gill at No.4. He said:
“It would be (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, and with him wlill be KL. Rahul, because I think this is a big tour for him. He’s the most experienced of the batsmen. He opened last time when India toured England, got a hundred, (and) had a good tour. So I would hope for him to open the innings. Three, I’ll go with the youngster, Sai Sudarshan. Whatever I’ve seen of him, he’s very impressive. This will be good exposure for him, this tour.”
Sai Sudharsan has emerged as one of the best performers in Indian cricket in the last few years, and in the recently concluded Indian Premier League 2025, he won the Orange Cap. He has been looked at as the next big thing in Indian cricket, and many experts have backed him to achieve greatness.
Meanwhile, Ravi Shastri further picked the comeback man Karun Nair at the No.5 position and the Test vice-captain Rishabh Pant at the No.6 spot.
Talking about Karun Nair, Ravi Shastri said that the senior batter has put in hard work to stage a comeback in the Indian team, and his red-ball form makes him an easy selection choice. He said:
“In all probability, depending on what current form is, it’ll be Karun Nair. He bats at five, it’s a long time since he played for India. Six will be (Rishabh) Pant. I think he (Nair) has worked really hard. He’s just worked his way back into the side. The number of runs he’s got in first-last cricket is incredible.
“And I met him during an IPL game. I said, ‘don’t just bang the door. Just kick it down and make your way in and walk into that side’. And I think he’s done just that. Just the number of runs that he’s got has made the selectors look in that direction and give him a place.”
Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur picked in Ravi Shastri’s playing XI
On the bowling side of things, Ravi Shastri went with Ravindra Jadeja as the sole spinner over Kuldeep Yadav and Shardul Thakur as a pace-bowling all-rounder over Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Also, he picked Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj to spearhead the pace department, with one among Prasidh Krishna and Arshdeep Singh providing them with support after being picked based on conditions.
“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,” he said.
“And 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 Prasidh Krishna/Ashdeep but the other two will be Siraj and Bumrah.”
Ravi Shastri’s India playing XI for the first Test against England
Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna/ Arshdeep Singh.
