He is playing his fifth Test game of his career.
Coming on the back of a poor Test debut on the England tour, Sai Sudharsan is finally making his case as India’s new No.3 in the longest format. Batting in the first innings during the IND vs WI 2nd Test, the Tamil Nadu batter played a knock of 87 runs in Delhi. He was plumb out by Jomel Warrican in the 69th over.
At the time of filing this report, India have 251/2 on the board at the end of 69 overs. Jaiswal is unbeaten at 126, while Gill is the new man in.
Shubman Gill won the toss for the first time after being appointed as the new leader and put India to bat first. Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul built a good partnership of 58 before the right-hander was dismissed to an unplayed ball with a turn of 8.4 degrees.
Jaiswal and Sudharsan joined forces to help India cross the 250-run mark. While the opener went on to complete his century, Sudharsan was dismissed for 87 off 165 balls. His knock included 12 boundaries.
In the first Test, he could manage only seven runs. However, he struck a century and two scores of 70+ for India A against Australia A last month.
Sudharsan’s first half-century came on the England tour as the designated No.3 batter. However, he played only three out of five games. India also tried Karun Nair in the same spot, but the departure of veterans from Test cricket has left a huge void to fill.
In the England Test series, the 23-year-old made 140 runs in six innings at an average of 23.33. His top score was 61. When Karun batted at the same spot during the Birmingham and Lord’s Tests, he put together 100+ runs. Overall, neither of the two batters nailed the No.3 spot. Both often looked out of colour. Since Karun is already a decade older than Sudharsan, he may have played his last Test for India unless any serious injuries force his inclusion in the squad. Moreover, Dhruv Jurel, who kept wickets temporarily in place of Rishabh Pant, has looked solid at one down.
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For the longest time, Rahul Dravid took charge of the No.3 spot. From 1996 to 2012, Dravid made more than 10K runs in 135 matches. He was reckoned as ‘The Wall’ for his defensive approach after the opening partnership was broken.
After Dravid, Pujara took over and struck 6K+ runs. With Rohit Sharma as the leader, KL Rahul accompanied the opener, while Gill played 17 matches as the No.3 batter. He made 1,019 runs in that position. However, after the retirements of Rohit and Virat Kohli, Jaiswal and KLR open the innings for India, while Gill has owned the No.4 spot.
This has left a huge void. Though India have tried multiple options, Sudharsan doesn’t have a solid competitor for this spot. With the lefty’s continued torrid performances, it appeared as if he is not ready for the longest format. However, with this knock of 87, Sudharsan has instilled some hope.
India will host South Africa for two Tests in November. It is expected that Sudharsan may be given more opportunities at home to fancy his chances for the No.3 position in the long run.
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