Two seamer all-rounders at their disposal on an overseas tour is quite uncommon for India in recent years. The Shubman Gill-led squad has both Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy for the job, which does give Team India options in the five-Test series against England.

The question, though, is who does India pick for the series opener at Headingley beginning on June 20?

On running through the scorecards of the two ‘A’ matches so far against England Lions, both Shardul and Reddy have had their share of game time with a fair bit of both batting and bowling.

Young Reddy, whose robust approach with the bat — including a counterpunching 114 in Melbourne — on India’s disappointing tour of Australia impressed one and all, batted in all four innings of the two games in Canterbury and Northampton, tallying 135 runs.

He hit an unbeaten 52 in the second innings of the first ‘A’ game too.

Shardul could bat in three innings, tallying 80. With the ball, both all-rounders finished with two wickets each in as many innings.

At Headingley, the ball tends to move a little more, making batting harder if conditions are overcast. India had lost by an innings and 76 runs the last time they played a Test there, four years ago.

Shardul didn’t feature in that Test. With the ball, his record in the longest format (31 wickets in 11 Tests) isn’t exceptional. Yet, he has been a performer for India in England, particularly in The Oval Test of 2021, where he hit 57 and 60 during critical phases of the game and also picked up two crucial wickets in India’s 157-run victory.

“Shardul has the experience of playing three Tests in England. That’s something the team management can’t overlook, though the head coach (Gautam Gambhir) is more inclined towards
giving more opportunities to youngsters,” a BCCI source told The Telegraph on Wednesday.

“However, for the first Test at least, Shardul’s chances appear to be greater as his experience cannot be written off. The opening game sets the tone for the entire series, which the team management is aware of. Besides, he’s someone who can move the ball in helpful conditions.”

Bowling, in particular, gives Shardul, 33, an edge over the 22-year-old Andhra youngster.

That said, Reddy, too, has been working hard on his bowling. “In the latter part of the IPL, Nitish used to bowl regularly at nets even with the red ball, keeping the England tour in mind,” a Board official said.

“When the rest of his Sunrisers Hyderabad teammates left for an outing in the Maldives, Nitish went back
home to Visakhapatnam to practise bowling with the red ball in particular. So, he’s quite serious about his bowling. He has a couple of five-wicket hauls too in first-class cricket.”

According to India bowling coach Morne Morkel, Reddy is “a guy who can bowl that magical ball”. But Morkel didn’t wish to reveal who between Shardul and Reddy would be picked for the first Test.

“....For us as a bowling unit, finding that gear that we’re going to need in Tests is going to be important,” was all he said during a news conference on Wednesday.