It has been nearly a year since B Sai Sudharsan made his Test debut. Since then, he has been part of three Test series, in which he has twice been consigned to the bench. Despite being backed for the much-vaunted No. 3 spot, Sudharsan is yet to make a strong case for himself, let alone cement the position as his own.
In 11 innings, he has scored 302 runs at an average of 27.45, a tally that includes two half-centuries and a best of 87. As India prepare to play their first Test since November 2025, the rising star will get another opportunity to stake his claim when the hosts line up against Afghanistan in Mullanpur from Saturday.
The one-off contest, not part of the ongoing ICC World Test Championship, will be only the second red-ball meeting between India and Afghanistan since June 2018 in Bengaluru.
On the eve of the match, India head coach Gautam Gambhir confirmed that Sudharsan will continue to bat at No. 3 as he has not yet been given a “fair chance”.
“Honestly, Sai hasn’t got a fair chance. He’s only played what, handful of Test matches. And he started his Test career in England, which we all know is not the easiest place,” Gambhir said on Friday. “He’s had a phenomenal run in IPL (722 runs) as well and we’re going to give him a fair chance. I still believe that he hasn’t got a fair chance.”
With Gambhir shutting the debate around the No. 3 spot, it effectively rules out Devdutt Padikkal’s chances for the remainder of this WTC Cycle unless there are fitness concerns.
“You can only pick 11, unfortunately, sometimes you just have to wait (Devdutt) for the opportunity,” Gambhir said.
“Sai is not in bad form either. He’s got what, 700 runs in IPL. If judging players by only four or five Test matches is good enough, then I feel that we will never be able to build something. So, hopefully he will get his time,” he added.
Gambhir though says that Padikkal’s time will come and when it does, the left-handed batter will be given a fair shot as well.
“Whenever his (Padikkal’s) time comes, we’ll give him a fair run as well. And it’s not about giving someone five Test matches and someone else one Test match. If we give someone a fair run, we’ll give the other guy whenever he gets the opportunity, a fair run as well. But at the moment, I think we have got to give Sai a fair run as he is a world-class player as well. He’s a quality player and I’m sure he’ll come good,” he said.
Hunt For The 4th spinner
Gambhir said the team will use this contest to determine their fourth spinner for the upcoming two-match Test tour of Sri Lanka in August. India have given maiden call-ups to spin duo Manav Suthar and Harsh Dubey and already have the likes of Kuldeep Yadav (left-arm wrist-spin) and all-rounder Washington Sundar (off-spin).
“Manav and Harsh are to a certain extent similar but different also in terms of release points. This match gives us a chance to determine our fourth spinner as we will take four spinners in Sri Lanka,” Gambhir said.
“We will need to prepare differently when we go to New Zealand. So, we will pull out a few ODI regulars who play Tests. We understand we need to prepare better for Tests,” Gambhir added.
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