Gautam Gambhir, the head coach of India, announced on Friday that Sai Sudharsan will have a prolonged stint at the No. 3 position in Test cricket because the young left-hander’s six poor performances in the format are insufficient to draw firm conclusions about his ability.
The head coach stated that Sudharsan would be favored over his closest rival, Devdutt Padikkal, who has been waiting in the wings since the 2024 Test match against Australia in Perth, despite the fact that he hasn’t really looked at home in the six Tests he has played, amassing 302 runs at a dismal average of 27.45.
Gambhir thinks it would be unjust to drop Sudharsan in favor of Padikkal because he played three of his six Test matches in England under seaming conditions.
“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,” PTI quoted Gambhir as saying ahead of the one-off Test against Afghanistan starting in Mullanpur on Saturday.
“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,” added Gambhir essentially putting an end to the discussion of who will start at number three.
Additionally, unless there are fitness concerns, Sudharsan will play the next ten Test matches, thus Padikkal will have to wait.
“You can only pick 11, unfortunately, sometimes you just have to wait (Devdutt) for the opportunity,” Gambhir said, answering a query on whether Padikkal had any chance of making it. “To build a team, one needs to give talented players a longer run,” said the former India opener.
“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 said.
He did, however, offer some words of support for Padikkal, who he thinks would also have his long stint in the Indian XI.
“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,” the head coach exuded confidence.
Regarding which of Manav Suthar and Harsh Dubey would receive a Test cap on Saturday, Gambhir was not too open.
However, he was certain of one thing. In August, India will play a two-Test away series against Sri Lanka, and whomever plays this Test will be their fourth spinner (the other three being Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja).
“Look, to a certain extent they are similar, but also a little different as well…you also see that the release points, you also see what someone gets off the wicket and the trajectories and everything. And who’s probably more suited to red ball cricket,” Gambhir said keeping cards close to his chest.
“And this probably is the only Test match where we can think of or look at someone who could be a fourth spinner. Because after this we go to Sri Lanka and we might have to carry four spinners as well there.”
“So, this is an ideal opportunity to try someone who could be a long-term fourth spinner as well,” he added.
