Reddy or Thakur? Both have work to do ahead of first Test

Nitish Kumar Reddy scored one half-century and picked up two wickets across two matches for India A against England Lions. Shardul Thakur also picked up two wickets and posted a highest score of 34 across the two games. Judged merely by those numbers, India would be concerned: who is the better option for the first Test against England, which begins on June 20 in Leeds?

Going by his limited bowling role in the two matches, it's fair to assume that if included, Reddy would primarily be a batting allrounder, a role he performed with decent success during his maiden Test series in Australia, where he played all five Tests. So far in England, Reddy has struggled to judge the bounce and has been beaten by seam movement. In the first innings in Canterbury, on a benign pitch, Reddy went to cut too early with hard hands against a ball that kicked up from good length. While he scored a half-century in the second innings, the match had slipped into yawn mode by then with Lions' part-time bowlers rolling their arms over.

But Reddy would be more bothered by the seam movement as he was bowled in both innings in Northampton, including by Tom Haines, a part-time medium pacer. In Australia, Reddy played bold strokes regardless of the situation, but that worked because the ball came nicely on to the bat. In England, though, Reddy faces a number of challenges, which include the pitch, overhead conditions, and the wobble seam, all of which can only be addressed with good defensive technique.

As for his bowling, Reddy was innocuous both in Canterbury and Northampton with the Lions' batters scoring easy runs against him. Reddy, who had recovered from a side strain just before the IPL, was allowed to bowl by BCCI medical staff around mid-May. Other than the volume of overs, Reddy will need to build on his pace, too, as his average speed against Lions was in the late 70mphs.

While Reddy is inexperienced in English conditions, Thakur has played four of his 11 Tests in the country, including the WTC final in 2023. As a bowling allrounder, Thakur, at least on paper, is more convincing. While his speeds were similar to Reddy's, he did manage to extract movement as well as bounce to beat the outside edge or rap pads frequently. In Canterbury, he bowled 28 overs, nearly double that of Reddy.

Of course, the intensity and the mindset will be different come the Test match, and India will want both allrounders to step it up. On the 2021 series in England, India were 2-1 up in four Tests before losing the last to tie it 2-2, and one of the reasons behind their success was Thakur, who played an effective role as a fifth bowler and made important runs in the lower order. As things stand, both Reddy and Thakur have work to do.