Harbhajan Singh picks India’s playing 11 for ENG vs IND 2025 1st Test; excludes Karun Nair & names 2 spinners

Former spinner Harbhajan Singh picked his preferred Team India playing XI for the series opener against England, scheduled to begin on June 20 in Leeds. The Test marks the commencement of Shubman Gill's reign as Test captain, with a new-look team on offer following the retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

Despite several vacancies being up for grabs in the playing XI across nearly all departments, it is far from a straightforward selection, given the intense competition among the new faces. The team management have several close selection battles to deal with in the lead-up to the first Test.

Newly-appointed vice-captain Rishabh Pant had mentioned during the pre-match press conference that the team are yet to choose the new No.3 batter, with Shubman Gill shuffling down the order to No.4.

Harbhajan Singh picked Sai Sudharsan for the role in the top-order, while choosing to exclude Karun Nair in the middle-order. The former cricketer went with an extra bowler in the form of a second spinner in Kuldeep Yadav instead.

"Team India, although they may seem young and inexperienced on paper, but I think they will show their ability and potential on the field, and put up a fight against England," Harbhajan Singh said on his YouTube channel.

"You need to figure out what you need, a batter who can bowl, or a bowler who can bat a bit. If you need a batter, then go with Reddy, and get him to bowl 10-15 overs a day. If Shardul is in, I think the batting looks a bit thin, although he just scored a ton in the warm-up game," he added.

Harbhajan Singh's preferred Team India playing XI for first Test against England

KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur/Nitish Kumar Reddy, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh/Prasidh Krishna.

"Waiting to see the wicket one last time to see the final combinations and deciding on that" - Team India captain Shubman Gill on team selection

The conditions will play a huge part in Team India's combination for the series opener. England, on the other hand, have already named their playing XI, springing no major surprises while combating an injury crisis to their pace bowling department.

"The summer has been a little bit different to the other English summers. It's been a little bit dry, so I was just waiting to see the wicket one last time to see the final combinations and deciding on that," Gill said during the pre-match press conference (via ICC).

"After Virat Bhai retired, me and GG Bhai [Gautam Gambhir] had a discussion about it. And we were both clear that he wanted me to bat at number four, and I was also clear that I also wanted to bat at that number," he said of his new batting position.

Team India are on the lookout for their first series win in England since 2007. They came close during the last tour, but had to be content with a 2-2 draw after a well-contested series.