Will India's bold move of playing two fast-bowling all-rounders against England work?

Shardul is returning to the Indian team after 18 months. The right-arm all-rounder played his last Test match in Centurion, South Africa, in December 2023, and was then dropped by the management, with his consistent performance in the domestic circuit, Thakur was recalled in the Indian Test squad.

All-rounder mistake in Australia

Men in Blue made a huge blunder by playing Reddy at the number eight position most of the time as a proper all-rounder, but his bowling records didn’t glorify his all-round capabilities. Reddy just bowled 44 overs in nine innings out of 538.5 overs bowled by the India team in the Test series.

Ravindra Jadeja bowled 19 more overs than Reddy in the Australia tour, where spinners didn’t get much help from the surface. Reddy’s bowling didn’t reflect him as a proper all-rounder rather be a part-time bowler. India never sent him above Ravindra Jadeja in the batting order, and now the most important question comes: will Reddy be guaranteed a place in the playing XI with his weak bowling style?

Shardul is a kind of bowling all-rounder who can pick wickets on any surface and can chip in some runs down the order, and he has also delivered previously in English conditions. India needs a batter till 7, which will be Jadeja and then needs four proper bowlers, which will increase the chances of Shardul in the playing XI as he can bowl all day, as his primary skill is bowling, not batting.

Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shardul Thakur’s performance against the England Lions

Both all-rounders played two Test matches against the England Lions, where Reddy scored 135 runs in four innings and took just two wickets with an economy of 4.17. Reddy bowled just 26.5 overs in three innings.

Sardul picked up just two wickets in two matches and scored just 80 runs in three innings. Neither all-arounder looked good against the England A team in their home conditions.