Dinesh Karthik picks India's batting order for ENG vs IND 2025 1st Test; leaves out key all-rounder

Former India wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik picked his batting order for the Men in Blue's series opener against England, scheduled to begin on June 20 at Headingley, Leeds. The team management are faced with a major selection conundrum regarding the batting unit following the recent retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

The departures of the two legendary batters have led to some major shuffles in the batting order. KL Rahul is likely to take up Rohit Sharma's opening spot on a full-time basis while newly-appointed captain Shubman Gill is touted to be Team India's new No.4, after the position was left vacant following Kohli's departure.

Dinesh Karthik backed Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul to continue their success from the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar series in Australia. The former cricketer also feels that Sai Sudharsan can be Team India's new No.3 in Test cricket following his maiden call-up in the format.

Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant were named in the middle-order by Karthik, while the returning Karun Nair was slotted in at No.6. All-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur also made it to the RCB mentor's expected batting order, which left no room for the promising Nitish Kumar Reddy.

Dinesh Karthik's Team India batting order for ENG vs IND 2025 1st Test

Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur

"The world is his oyster" - Dinesh Karthik on Shubman Gill ahead of IND vs ENG 2025 Test series

Newly appointed Team India vice-captain Rishabh Pant has already confirmed that he would be batting at No.5, while Shubman Gill takes over the No.4 slot. The wicket-keeper admitted that the team have not yet locked in on the candidate for the No.3 spot, with a toss-up between Sai Sudharsan and Abhimanyu Easwaran expected.

"Jaiswal looks like a man who is ready for a challenge like this. At No.3, Sai Sudharsan, I feel he has done outstandingly well in white-ball cricket, IPL, and in the limited opportunities he has got for India as well. Can he convert that form into red-ball cricket as well? Shubman Gill, who is going to take over the mantle from the King. That's a big one, but he knows. He wants to win that dressing room. If he gets going with the bat and shows the form he has shown in white-ball cricket, the world is his oyster," Karthik said on an Instagram post on his account.

"At No.8, I think Shardul Thakur is going to be the man. He is a bowling all-rounder, but his batting is going to be useful. We all know how lower-order runs are extremely important," he added.

England, on the other hand, have already named their playing XI for the series opener. The hosts did not spring any major surprises with their batting order, preferring to stick with senior candidate Ollie Pope instead of the newcomer Jacob Bethell, the rest of the batting unit arguably picked itself.