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Shardul Thakur has been included in India's playing XI for the first fixture of the five-match Test series against England on Friday, June 20. The game is being played at Headingley in Leeds.
Thakur's last Test appearance came during the South Africa tour in December 2023. He has not featured in an international fixture since.
Shardul Thakur made a strong case for his comeback after an impressive performance in the 2024-25 edition of the Ranji Trophy. He scalped 35 wickets and garnered 505 runs in nine games, helping Mumbai progress to the semifinal.
Meanwhile, the bowling all-rounder also did well in India's last tour to England. He bagged 13 wickets and scored 122 runs in four appearances. It will be interesting to see if he can impress in his first international game after 18 months.
Ravindra Jadeja is the spin-bowling all-rounder in the side.
India's Playing XI for 1st Test: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
Shardul Thakur wants India to "put up a show" against England
In a video shared by BCCI recently, Shardul Thakur opined that playing in England was an exciting challenge due to the contrast in surfaces and weather as compared to India. He said:
"I think it's very exciting to play in this part of the world where you face different challenges. The first one, of course, is weather. Sometimes it's cloudy, sometimes it's bright sunny, and as a player, you need to make adjustments to your game, whether you're batting or bowling."Thakur remains confident of the young Indian team's potential and hopes that they will prevail in the series by countering England's Bazball approach. He added:
"Good to have that fresh energy in the team. Few youngsters are coming up, and new talent is always exciting. Now that the England team is also playing a different kind of cricket. You know, like to surprise them also that we are here to put up a show. And it's always great to win away series away from home. And if we could achieve this feat, it would be massive for the entire nation, I feel."Why did you not like this content?
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Edited by Sankalp Srivastava
English (US)