Former all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has picked his India playing XI for the first Test against England, starting June 20 in Leeds. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin picked six frontline batters, three pacers and two all-rounders — Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur — thus snubbing the likes of Kuldeep Yadav and Nitish Kumar Reddy. For the no. 6 spot, Ashwin acknowledged that there is genuine competition between young wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel and returning batter Karun Nair for that spot. However, Ashwin went with his gut feeling and went with Karun.

“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?,” said Ashwin.

Ashwin also predicted the leading wicket-takers and run-scorers for both teams. He also backed veteran all-rounder Chris Woakes to pick the most number of wickets during the series if he manages to play all five matches.

“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,” he added.

R Ashwin’s India XI For 1st Test vs England: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna