England vs India 2025: Robin Uthappa predicts his India playing XI for upcoming Test series

The clock is ticking by as barely over a week's time is left to go for the upcoming Test series between England and India. Notably, the first Test will start on June 20. The squads have been announced, and the experts have already picked their perfect playing XI for the five-match Test series. Former India wicketkeeper-batter Robin Uthappa has also predicted which players will make up the playing squad.

The 2007 T20 World Cup winner has started with the top order itself and chose KL Rahul as the perfect opening partner. Speaking of the rest of the top order, Uthappa has picked Sai Sudharsan to play at number three and has placed a lot of trust in newly appointed India skipper Shubman Gill to play at the crucial number four spot. Thereafter, the former Indian cricketer picked Karun Nair and Rishabh Pant at the number five and number six spots, respectively. However, he made an interesting choice by picking Nitish Kumar Reddy at number seven ahead of Shardul Thakur.

“For me, I want to start stronger right at the top, and I would want KL Rahul to open there. With the kind of success he has gotten there, with just the way he batted in Australia, and the way he has batted in the past in England, it augurs well for India to get him to open the batting. At No. 3, I would love to see someone like Sai Sudharsan because of how technically right he is, and the potential he possesses as what we feel and believe he can do and achieve in Test cricket. No. 4, Shubman Gill for sure," Uthappa spoke exclusively on Star Sports show ‘Game Plane’.

“My No. 5 would be Karun Nair because you want a little bit of experience there. No. 6 – Rishabh Pant, I love him at No. 6. I think that's his sweet spot. At No. 7, I will have Nitish Kumar Reddy because he is a proper fast-bowling all-rounder, your fourth fast-bowling option," Uthappa added.

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I will have Jadeja at No 8: Robin Uthappa

Robin Uthappa went on to pick the lower-middle order and the tail and chose to back India star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja at the number eight position, which he claims will add more depth to the team, and also mentioned his great performances in England as well. The cricketer-turned-commentator went on to pick Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna as the other two specialist bowlers alongside Jasprit Bumrah.

“I will have Jadeja. Again, increased depth, scores runs, and has scored runs in England as well in Test cricket. So I will have him at No. 8. I see Siraj playing that role. Siraj has to be a lot more disciplined, though. One change, you will like to see Prasidh Krishna come in, and Nitish Kumar Reddy again to support the fast bowlers," he concluded.

Robin Uthappa predicted playing XI:

Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudarshan, Shubman Gill (c), Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.