ENG vs IND: Shardul Thakur fit and available for selection for Headingley Test, confirms Ajinkya Rahane

While England are suffering with multiple injury concerns in their camp, team India has received a good news ahead of the third Test at Headingley. Shardul Thakur who played in the first Test at Trent Bridge is fit and available for selection. He had sustained a minor hamstring injury which ruled him out of the Lord’s Test which India won by 151 runs but even then skipper Virat Kohli was confident that Thakur will be fit for the third Test.

It was kind of a surprise for everyone after India went with Shardul Thakur in the opening Test of the five-match series seeking a bit of batting depth to their batting line-up. The Mumbai cricketer didn’t open his account with the bat but he bowled superbly nipping out a total of four crucial wickets across two innings.

With him being fit now, it will be interesting to see if India go with him or trust their four-man pace attack which took 20 wickets at Lord’s. India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane confirmed the news of Shardul Thakur regaining fitness in the pre-match press conference.

However, he didn’t provide any information on whether he will walk into the playing XI or not. “Shardul Thakur is fit and available for selection. Depends on what team combination we want to go with,” Rahane said.

Rahane responds to criticism of him and Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were under constant criticism during the Lord’s Test as well due to their poor form before the duo saved India in the second innings. While India’s number three was at his usual blocking best, Rahane batted patiently and then opened his arms to muster 61 runs. Responding to critics, the latter said the duo is well-versed with handling pressure and are not worried about anything else.

“I’m happy people are talking about Cheteshwar Pujara and I. Not really concerned about all the talks surrounding form. We know how to handle pressure, we are doing just that. We are not thinking about things that we cant control,” Rahane added.