Ravichandran Ashwin snubs Kuldeep Yadav as he picks India XI for 1st England Test, predicts top performers

Legendary India National Cricket Team spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has picked his India playing XI for the first Test of the five-match series against the England National Cricket Team.

Ravichandran Ashwin has also predicted the top run-getter and wicket-taker for India and England in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

No place for Kuldeep Yadav and Nitish Kumar Reddy in Ravichandran Ashwin's playing XI

Under the leadership of newly-appointed skipper Shubman Gill, India will play their first Test of the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle against the England National Cricket Team at Headingley in Leeds from June 20.

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In the absence of several veteran players, the selection of the playing XI becomes tough for the Gautam Gambhir-led team management, as there are several fresh faces in the squad.

Meanwhile, Ravichandran Ashwin has picked his playing XI, which consists of KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Karun Nair, and Rishabh Pant in the top six.

Ashwin has picked two all-rounders in his preferred playing XI - Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur - which means there is no place for Kuldeep Yadav and Nitish Kumar Reddy. Ravichandran Ashwin further named Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna as three frontline seamers.

"KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna," Ashwin said while picking his India playing XI for the Test series opener on his YouTube channel.

You cannot ignore Karun's form - Ashwin

Ashwin opined that there will be a battle between Karun Nair and Dhruv Jurel for the No.6 spot, with the former likely to get preference because of his red-hot form.

"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 of the team combination.

I think Siraj will be the leading wicket-taker - Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin also made some interesting predictions for the India vs England series. He said that either Chris Woakes or Shoaib Bashir will emerge as the leading wicket-taker for England, with Joe Root being their top run-getter.

He added that Mohammed Siraj could be India's top wicket-taker because Jasprit Bumrah won't play all the matches, and on the batting side of things, Ravichandran Ashwin picked Rishabh Pant as top run-scorer after initially going with KL Rahul. He elaborated:

"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 added.

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