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India faces a severe challenge while trying to figure out its playing combination for the upcoming high-stakes Tests in England. One of Nitish Rddy and Shardul Thakur will be up for a place in the final XI for the first test at Headingley on June 20.
Nitish and Shardul were thrown into the playing XI for India A during both unofficial Tests against England Lions, and both all-rounders reaped mixed results across the two contests. Considering the way Nitish was used, his role revolved primarily around being a batting all-rounder. He thrived in this role during his maiden Test assignment in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, where he played all five Tests. However, after being exposed to English conditions, Nitish struggled to judge the bounce and often got beaten by the seam movement. On Canterbury's benign pitch, Nitish went to cut the ball too early and too hard in the first innings. During his second turn, he struck a half-century on the fourth day; however, by that time, the fate of the game was decided, and part-time bowlers were out rolling their arms. Apart from the bounce, Nitish's main struggle is the seam movement. In Northampton, Nitish toiled hard against Tom Haines, a part-time medium-pace bowler. Nitish was able to play aggressively in Australia, irrespective of the situation, because the ball travelled nicely to his bat. However, in England, the overcast conditions, the grassy surface and the wobbly seam pose a massive challenge for the 22-year-old. Nitish appeared to be harmless with the ball from Canterbury to Northampton. Batters garnered runs during his over, and his average speed remained at 70mph, which he has to notch up. On the other hand, Shardul is a seasoned player who has played four of his 11 Tests in England. While Shardul's pace resembled that of Nitish, he was able to extract more seam movement and continued to beat the outside edge of the Lions batter. In Canterbury, he bowled 28 overs, nearly double what Nitish bowled and scalped two wickets. In 2021, when India led 2-1 in the series in England, Shardul was one of the main reasons behind the tourists' success. He was the fifth bowling option and was effective with the bat. As things stand, Nitish and Shardul will need to work on things before the highly anticipated series begins. (ANI)
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