Sanjay Bangar picks his Indian XI for ENG vs IND 2025 1st Test, picks Kuldeep Yadav ahead of Ravindra Jadeja

Former Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar has picked India’s playing XI for the opening Test against England. Bangar picked Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul as India’s openers. The duo had also opened for India on the Australian tour and had done a decent job at the top of the order.

The former RCB captain backed Abhimanyu Easwaran to bat at one down for India. Bangar said newly appointed captain Shubman Gill to bat at number four in the series opener against England.

Furthermore, Bangar picked Rishabh Pant at number five and in-form Karun Nair at number six. Nitish Kumar Reddy is the all-rounder in Bangar’s team. The commentator picked Kuldeep Yadav ahead of Ravindra Jadeja in his team. Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah are the three seamers picked by Bangar.

“My team is Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran at No. 3, Shubman Gill at No. 4, Rishabh Pant at No. 5, Karun Nair at No. 6, Nitish Kumar Reddy at No. 7, Kuldeep Yadav at No. 8, and then three seamers – Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah,” Sanjay Bangar said on Star Sports show Game Plan.

Bangar said he would play Nitish Kumar Reddy ahead of Shardul Thakuar as the seam-bowling all-rounder.

“I see Nitish as a batter who can bowl. I can’t see him as a bowler who can bat. However, Nitish starts in my team ahead of Shardul. Shardul doesn’t play in my first XI. Nitish Reddy will play first,” Bangar observed.

The former Indian all-rounder said Kuldeep Yadav should be India’s first choice spinner on the England tour.

“It will be a condition-based call on whether you would play one spinner or two spinners. Whenever the Indian team wants to play one spinner on this tour, I feel it should be Kuldeep Yadav because there is a huge question about the fitness of your trump card, Jasprit Bumrah,” he reasoned.

The opening Test match between India and England will be played at Leeds, Headingley, from June 20 onwards.