Is Shardul Thakur in India’s squad for ENG vs IND 2025 Test series?

After facing the axe in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), Shardul Thakur has returned to the Indian squad for the upcoming Test series against England. This is the third time he has been included in the Test squad that will tour England, after 2018 and 2021.

Thakur, who has played 11 Tests for India so far, has picked up 31 wickets. He has been part of the side that has registered some iconic away wins in Test cricket, such as in Australia (Gabba), England (Lords and Oval), and South Africa (Centurion). The 33-year-old has also delivered with the bat whenever asked, scoring four half-centuries in the longest format.

The pacer has picked up 35 wickets in his last 19 innings for Mumbai, emerging as the second-highest wicket-taker for the 42-time Ranji Trophy champions in the same time. He has also picked up 10 wickets in England, eight of which have come against the home side.

India's Squad for the Tour of England 2025: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, B Sai Sudarsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.

Shardul Thakur is one of the seven pacers selected for the Test tour of England

Shardul Thakur has 10 wickets in England and has also scored 122 runs in three Tests - Source: Getty

India have gone with seven fast bowlers for the tour of England, starting next month. Spearheading the attack will be Jasprit Bumrah, who will be supported by Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, and Akash Deep. Arshdeep has received his first call-up to the Indian Test side. He has already featured in T20Is and ODIs.

The 18-man squad also includes Nitish Kumar Reddy as a pace bowling all-rounder. The squad also sees a maiden call-up for Sai Sudharsan, who has plied his trade for Surrey in County Cricket in England. He could make his Test debut on the upcoming tour.

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Lavil is a cricket journalist at Sportskeeda with an experience of over 4 years. He A Bachelor’s of Engineering degree holder in Electronics and Computer Science, he is a firm believer of verifying information from multiple websites, and always checks his sources' authenticity in order to provide his readers the most accurate information.

An ardent Team India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru fan, Lavil had his first tryst with cricket during his childhood and has grown up admiring how the sport brings people together over the years. He is a huge admirer of Mahendra Singh Dhoni due to the player's calm and collected nature. He would like to go back in time and revisit the 2011 ICC World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka if ever got his hands on a time machine.

Lavil, who used to play cricket at school level, has interviewed sporting personalities like Robin Uthappa, Leander Paes, Ankita Raina, Prashant Surve, and Des Buckingham so far in his career. He does not feel ODIs should be completely replaced with T20Is as he reckons every format has its own beauty.

In his free time, he watches Manchester United attempt to get back to their former glory days or plays FC 25.

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Edited by Parag Jain