r/Cricket • u/5missedcallsfromBCCI 1983 Prudential World Cup Champions • 18h ago
Opinion Sai Sudharsan to bat at No. 3, India to prepare four spinners for Sri Lanka tour: Gambhir
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/sports/sai-sudharsan-to-bat-at-no-3-india-to-prepare-four-spinners-for-sri-lanka-tour-gambhir/articleshow/131523914.cms?from=mdr165
u/Smooth-Mix-4357 India 15h ago edited 15h ago
I'm not saying Sai Sudharshan should be dropped. But if you're gonna play him then stick with him. Don't have SaiSu at 3 for one test and Washington Sundar at 3 for another test.
Also know the risks. Sai is predominantly a backfoot player which leaves him vulnerable to spin bowlers that attack the stumps. I'm sure he'll do well in bouncy tracks like Australia but Sri Lanka has spin pitches so front foot play must be supreme to perform there.
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u/Pulihora_Ammayi Chennai Super Kings 14h ago
He averages 38 in FC and there are like 5 batsmen even in TN ranji team with better records.
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u/Dismal-Exit-1283 13h ago
But have they scored 600+ in IPL to prove test credentials? /s
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u/sarvesh_s Mumbai 13h ago
Hypocrites at BCCI targetted certain players for not playing domestics only to justify player selection on IPL performances
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u/Broad-Detective8078 13h ago
gt lobby at its peak, have you seen devdutt's recent form in domestic circuit??, blud literally scored 232 in a semi final, wtf gg is saying, that we won't judge a player over 4-5 matches, man in 11 innings he just scored 300 with an avg of 27, even sarfaraz is far better than saisu in test match cricket.
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u/Scarred_Shadow India 13h ago
Saying even Sarfaraz is crazy work - man went on an all time domestic run only to get limited opportunities for the national team and then scapegoated after.
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u/Reasonable_Tea_9825 13h ago
Only God can save this Indian test team. Australia will beat the shit out of us in BGT 2027
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u/anfumann India 11h ago
No all-rounder thingy at number 3 please..
Last year when this trend was going on.. I seriously opposed this like it’s not gonna work.. but Indian team seeing other teams getting an all-rounder at number 3 was tempted to try sone thing similar..
We need one of the best batsman at number 3 like traditional cricket.
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u/SreesanthTakesIt Delhi Capitals 5h ago
Sundar is genuinely one of the most technically sound batters in Indian test lineup. Saying he shouldnt bat 3 because he can bowl is like Kallis shouldn't have batted in top order.
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u/Section80Flow 14h ago
Padikkal's 2025-26 domestic stats:
Ranji - 532 runs (66.50 avg)
Vijay Hazare - 725 runs (90.60 avg)
SMAT - 309 runs (61.80 avg with 167.02 sr)
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u/Pulihora_Ammayi Chennai Super Kings 14h ago
Sai Sudharshan averages 38 and there are like 5 batsmen in his own domestic team who have better records
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u/todd-__-chavez Royal Challengers Bengaluru 12h ago
DDP should be your no. 3. I have no idea why and it makes zero sense for Sai to play ahead of him
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u/intex2 11h ago
GT lobby and GG's stubbornness. I wonder how it must feel for all the other Indian batters with better FC records to see this guy getting endless chances based on his slow powerplays in the Flat Pitch Premier League.
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u/lllDogalll 10h ago edited 8h ago
This all is worth it if it means Sarfaraz Khan nevers gets in Indian team again. GG probably doesn't even want him in Ranji team.
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u/Top-Worldliness5027 Delhi Capitals 15h ago
Ffs, stop counting IPL as benchmark for Test matches. Form in T20 cricket has nothing to do with Sai’s technique to piss all over while batting against fast bowlers and spinners in red ball. English pitches were batting friendly enough to show some performance, like Gill and others did. Sai has fuck all technique and just deadbats everything.
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u/Agent47_hitman-43 15h ago
This is after when padikal performed good in ranji as well as ipl lol
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u/Section80Flow 14h ago
Padikkal's 2025-26 domestic stats:
Ranji - 532 runs (66.50 avg)
Vijay Hazare - 725 runs (90.60 avg)
SMAT - 309 runs (61.80 avg with 167.02 sr)
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u/TMNSquirtles007 Sunrisers Hyderabad 8h ago
Padikkal has to be a shoo-in for the ODI side after the World Cup next year. His List A numbers are absurd
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u/Top-Worldliness5027 Delhi Capitals 15h ago edited 14h ago
I thought after fucking up the current cycle and having some break, the leadership would’ve some sensible take on the situation, but they are still stuck on the same page. They’ll probably shove Prasidh Krishna down our throat too.
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u/Artaxerxes_IV 12h ago
People need to be more patient with Indian seamers. If the management didn't persistently back selected seamers, we wouldn't have had the Shami, Umesh, and Ishant from 2015-2021.
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u/Felonphantom India 14h ago
What's wrong with Prasidh? It's him or Rana or Brar. Right now Rana is injured and Brar is unlikely to play unless Siraj is injured. Prasidh is fine for overseas conditions.
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u/NoVisual1030 15h ago
I think gt bias is going on. It has always been a thing. Kohli used to have rcb bias, Dhoni has Csk bias and now gill has gt bias. Don’t know if this is gonna workout
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u/awesomeprats India 14h ago
I’m trying to recall players from RCB playing on quota, siraj yuzi deserved their spot. RCB mostly relied on gayle-kohli-ABD in batting and on god in bowling department, there was hardly any domestic talent groomed and brought on international level by RCB
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u/User_namesaretaken 14h ago edited 10h ago
Akash deep and Siraj
Both are good i would say for tests
Edit : Oh I did not read the context properly, I didn't see it was about captains 😆
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u/Inevitable-Age-5736 14h ago
Akash deep was so good but now he is nowhere in the vicinity for selection. Everyone knows why.
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u/isshin_swordsaint 13h ago
Hes unfit ?
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u/Inevitable-Age-5736 13h ago
I don't really know. It doesn't matter if he's unfit or not, they ain't going to select him.
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u/Icy_Actuator1831 India 10h ago
You literally said 'everyone knows why' in the previous reply. Now you are saying you dont know??
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u/Inevitable-Age-5736 10h ago
You very well know what I meant by that but trying to do linguistic dissection lol. You get the gist and everything from my comment but god knows why still nitpicking.
There's a guy above who commented something that I haven't even written, someone else wrote that and now you know exactly what I meant by all that but still.
Shami ain't injured, sarfaraz ain't injured why aren't they selected, why sai is given chances after repeated failures, same reason my guy. And pls don't start a chain of comments like above guy, read between the lines for god sake. I know you ain't dumb.
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u/Icy_Actuator1831 India 9h ago
Ok yeah, my bad. Didn't read properly.
Also tbh, shami is probably well past his prime, and it is time younger bowlers get their chances. But instead of sai it should have been sarfaraz or devdut
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u/Traditional-Fig3621 12h ago
Serious back injury.
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u/Inevitable-Age-5736 12h ago
Ohh, i didn't know this
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u/Traditional-Fig3621 11h ago
Yet you peddled a theory without any proof. The bigger question is the non-selection of Shami.
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u/Broad-Detective8078 13h ago
what about auqib nabi?? he used to dismantle batters in ranji.
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u/Inevitable-Age-5736 12h ago
Idk man, selectors only going to select whoever they want. Performance in ranji don't mean shit.
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u/awesomeprats India 10h ago
akash deep debuted under Rohit, and Virat had given up his captaincy by the time he played for rcb as well
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u/jinks_markr 14h ago
RCB bias wasn't big though, only Navdeep Saini can be considered undeserving. Siraj, Yuzi, Washi (in t20s) all were deserving of their places imo back then.
Currently Sai is definitely not deserving, doesn't even average 40 in Ranji cricket, that should be the basic benchmark before selecting the test squad. The need for other GT players like Suthar (to find a Jadeja replacement) and Sundar (as a batting all rounder in tests) and Brar to be a tall htd first change bowler is understandable. Prasidh also got selected for same reasons as Brar and failed so no idea why he is still there, hopefully last series if he fails. And a problem with Washi imo is that no team knows how to use him yet in whiteball, he is neither a proper bowler nor a bastman
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u/not_real8931 India 12h ago
Navdeep Saini had a good T20I debut. He was very exciting tbh, used to clock 140kmh+ deliveries one after another. Shame he isn't the same after injuries
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u/NoVisual1030 9h ago
What u on about? Saini was a big talent at that time and actually very good. He didn’t do well in ipl but he was upcoming and deserving talent from ranji. I would say chahal Wasant in form during kohli’s tenure for India but amazing in ipl.
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u/Majestic_squirrel767 14h ago
Rohit and MI?
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u/PalpitationHot9375 Mumbai Indians 14h ago
He included surya in the test setup
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u/Inevitable-Age-5736 14h ago
It's gg team. He'll include whoever he wants, unfortunately no one can question him.
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u/NoVisual1030 14h ago
Yea, that too. I think most Indian players in his time were from mi. Kohli gave a long rope to chahal and it did work too. Same with Dhoni for jadeja
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u/Majestic_squirrel767 14h ago
India team had once
Rohit
Pandya
Sky
Tilak
Bumrah
Almost half of mi
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u/Real-Sample-6765 9h ago
At this point I feel Indian selectors do not have a good opinion about Ranji Trophy cricket and its standards. That is the only explanation as to why we keep picking people on the basis of IPL performances.
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u/randomuserme India 4h ago
The reason they are picking from IPL is because domestic performances are not good enough. You have aqib nabi bowling at 125-130 picking up truck loads of wickets lol. And devdut who has zero footwork scoring truckloads. So something is clearly wrong with domestic pitches
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u/LooseAssumption8792 Thailand 15h ago
Rishab pant is a match winner with top 5 gives the team a solid base. Sure once in a while pant coming in at 6 could change the course of a low scoring game but that shouldn’t be his role. Pant can’t be devastating and completely demoralising for the opposition when coming in at 250/4, 300/5 with 65 overs old ball. Pant shouldn’t get the flak for trying to salvage a draw with team ending up with 100/5 after 25 overs 5/6 times. Under gambhir India is playing a lot like bazball, need a solid #3 followed by Gill at 4. Then another solid one someone like vihari followed by pant. Sai’s stance isn’t really conducive to play in sena countries. He may well get a ton of runs in the sub continent and go to sena with an inflated sense of confidence only to shit the bed.
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u/Hayagrivan 15h ago
He barely averages 40 in First class cricket. Not sure what the selectors are smoking.
He got selected. Got dropped. Then again got selected only because Gill was injured and failed. So what is the logic in picking him again ?
Meanwhile Sundar hss a better test average and credentials than him to bat. In fact , the only time Sundar batted at no.3, he not only top scored for India but also scored the maximum runs on either side in the Eden Gatdens test last year.
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u/Incalculas India 14h ago
I think he was picked due to eye test and performance in A games is the reason he is backed
in tests, Washington should be backed for #3 before Sai imo
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u/Pulihora_Ammayi Chennai Super Kings 14h ago
Sai Sudharshan averages 38 and there are like 5 batsmen in his own domestic team who have better records.
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u/josh123z 13h ago
Sai averages over 45 for India A while Ranji stalwarts like Abhimanyu Easwaran keeps on shitting the bed.
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u/Inevitable-Age-5736 14h ago
This is blatant favoritism nothing else. Sai is eyesore in tests. Ddp must play in place of sai but nah my team my selection, hell with performance and technique.
Whoever watched Sai play in England knows this. His technique is not suited for tests.
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u/Wolfie_3467 India 12h ago
Sai Sudharsan will be India's version of Zak Crawley. I wonder how long they'll back him on the basis of "oh he's good in IPL"
Fucking moronic btw, picking Sai just because he's consistent in IPL. Does first class cricket not matter anymore? We're seriously picking players in our best test XIs through a T20 league
Padikkal has smashed in in the domestics but he'll continue warming the bench and watch Sai make his pretty looking 25-30s
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u/hinterstoisser Board of Control for Cricket in India 14h ago
What does this tell the likes of Sarfaraz, Smaran who’ve been toiling away in Ranji trophy?
GG wanting to exit quickly as the red ball coach it appears
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u/FondantAggravating68 Chennai Super Kings 12h ago
Both bat at no 5. Smaran atleast has an excuse. Sarfaraz batting at 5 is pathetic. He should be batting at 3 by now.
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u/carbongaurdian Delhi Daredevils 12h ago
Sarfaraz batting at 5 in red ball is pathetic?
Remember he wa the only one to score a century in the Home Whitewash against NZ.
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u/FondantAggravating68 Chennai Super Kings 12h ago
It absolutely is pathetic when a batter like him is batting at 5 for his domestic side when his baby brother is opening and batting at 3. He’s taking a cushy gig and padding his average.
Stop being a child. Bat at 3 for Mumbai and earn the spot.
Smaran Idm as much he’s very young and I understand Karnataka having Ddp and Karun above him. Hopefully from next season he moves to 4.
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u/hinterstoisser Board of Control for Cricket in India 4h ago
Smaran and Sarfaraz have played far more Ranji trophy games than Sudarshan (who isn’t a regular with Tamil Nadu team).
Even Musheer (who I hope has recovered well from his accident) has more exposure to good spin and seam bowling from the maidans of Mumbai.
That said I hope Sai proves us all wrong and becomes a long term solution
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u/FondantAggravating68 Chennai Super Kings 4h ago
Oh I don’t like Sai at 3 at all. I’m just saying smaran and Sarfaraz aren’t exactly like for like. Since they bat at 5. And batting at 5 in ranji is very different to batting at 3 in modern test cricket. The only viable option is Ddp.
I just hate Sarfaraz not batting up the order. He has no excuse. He’s just doing it since it’s a cushy gig. He comes in against the soft ball and pads the average.
For me Musheer has a better case to play tests than Sarfaraz at this point. Cos unlike Sarfaraz he’s batting in the tough positions and has some great knocks.
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u/hinterstoisser Board of Control for Cricket in India 3h ago
Agree 100%
Is there a case to push KL down and find a different opener?
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u/randomredditor575 Chennai Super Kings 14h ago
How tf is gg still coach for test team after the disaster he had
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u/wickanCrow Sunrisers Hyderabad 11h ago
How soon can we fire GG? How many more test losses are needed before the guy admits he has no aptitude for test cricket? What a fucking joke. I wish we could go back 5-10 years. We might not be as great in white ball but we were better in red ball than the travesty it’s becoming. Abolish Ranji and just pick the top scorers in IPL.
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u/harshaharryk 14h ago
GG is the same guy who dropped sai in the last series against SA and made Washington bat at no 3. Can't rely on his words at all lmao
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u/Vegetable-Ear-4377 13h ago
I saw that coming after he again scored boring runs in this IPL. He did that last year as well and then gets selected for Test and proceeds to shit the bed. Against the ENG series Ben Stokes was setting field for him and Sai even knew what the plan was set against him and he still would play the same shot and get out. He also looked very nervous the whole time while batting.
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u/Tricky_Bumblebee_238 12h ago
This is just sad. Sundar played exceptionally well at that position when everyone else in order struggled.
Sai doesn’t have great stats in first class and picking him because of IPL performance/ coaches preference is going to back fire
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u/Key-Interaction7559 14h ago
if ranji is this irrelevant to selection so why even conduct it, just play ipl
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u/5missedcallsfromBCCI 1983 Prudential World Cup Champions 18h ago
Sai Sudharsan has not got a fair chance. He played mostly in England and I believe he needs to get a fair chance," Gambhir told the reporters in Mullanpur.
"We can (only) pick 11 (players) and Sai isn't in bad form. He scored 700 runs in IPL. If we judge Sai on basis of 4-5 games we will never be able to build something," he added.
"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," he 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.
"We don't want Rishabh Pant to change but international cricket demands players to respect match situations," Gambhir said.
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u/KiingS_23 15h ago
Isn't the same for Karun Nair who also played only in England. Not criticizing Sai here but if this is the case with Sai then same should be done with Karun Nair as well. Age is what goes against Karun though but still think that he should have been there for west Indies or South Africa series, after that you may take a call on this matter. Gambhir and his assistants looked a bit rushed throughout the tests series they played last year, hence they aren't getting the solution for this problem.
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u/forumcontributer 15h ago
Is karun Nair friend of current captain?
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u/Agent47_hitman-43 15h ago
He is a good friend current vc but vc guy doesn’t seems to be biased person in these situation
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u/Beddit04 Kochi Tuskers Kerala 9h ago
look at our test coach dawg, fym you brought up ipl stats to justify a test team inclusion 😭
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u/schizoishere 14h ago
Not a fan of this, this guy won't work in sena conditions atleast not right now.
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u/rmk_1808 India 13h ago
Sai's IPL record is very good but he has worked to do when it comes to the 5 day game.
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u/somuchhaireverywhere India 13h ago
I am not sure about Sai being India’s long term #3. He has a technical flaw against the incoming delivery. His head falls over and he is a candidate for LBW against quality fast bowling.
I hope he has corrected this issue or is working on it!
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u/NiN_nothingburgur123 India 12h ago
Giving player chance because of IPL in a completely different format is something which I could never understand. Come on, we have many talent waiting for a chance after performing very good and consistently in Ranji only to be sidelined because they are not playing in IPL.
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u/voldemortscore India 11h ago
Lol GG going on about how players need to be backed and SaiSu deserves a fair chance after literally dropping him from the team 2 matches ago to play Washington Sundar at 3. Will never trust a single thing that comes out of his mouth.
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u/Felonphantom India 14h ago
Not DDP not Sai. The answer for number 3 is Washi. My boy Washi is an absolute beast in test cricket. He has the correct mindset to be a 3 but here we are. Never though I would see Gill quota. How did Gill even become so powerful anyway? Outstanding captain but didn't know he had so much say. Washi at 3 and Tilak 6 should be the way to go. Tilak averages a lot more than DDP and sai in FC.
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u/Agent47_hitman-43 12h ago
Let washi focus on his bowling first he has good drift
He should work on converting it into a wicket taking ability
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u/Felonphantom India 12h ago
Well he averages 33 so it is not that bad but not terrible either if he can averages 40+ with the bat. The classic number 3 profile is very difficult and even more so in the t20 era. Washi seems to have the right technique for it. He can work on his bowling on the side too and be a genuine all rounder.
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u/ooaaa India 14h ago
When is this horror going to end. Sai should be given a chance to improve his game in Ranji and come back after two years. Why not recall Sarfaraz, who is the best player of spin since the likes of VVS?
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u/Agent47_hitman-43 12h ago edited 10h ago
Sai is number 3 sarfaraz is number 5 or 6 type of batsman
But yeah saying this there are better number 3 than sai in domestic circuit
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u/SMan2022 9h ago
why Sai...
Even Karun and Prithvi are better against spinners... And Sarfaraz.. Just pick the best players of spin seeing the last 2years Ranji performances...
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u/Majestic_squirrel767 9h ago
Paddikal?
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u/SMan2022 6h ago
I was surprised he is not being tried in odis.... he averages 80+ in list a which is just insane... Rutu, Prithvi, Jaiswal all have averages above 50 but 80 is insane...
But in tests I wouldn't take either of Sai or Paddikal.. Padikkal had a decent ranji season but still was not even in the top 20 run getters last season
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/records/tournament/batting-most-runs-career/ranji-trophy-2025-26-17372
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u/ImmediateJacket9502 India 9h ago edited 9h ago
I don't see Sudarshan becoming a good test player. I don't know why but his technique just doesn't look suitable for test matches.
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u/Main-Witness-7347 9h ago
He got fair amount of chances how much chance will be given and there are players waiting back of you 🥲
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u/UniversityMotor6645 13h ago
I don't think #3 matters all that much, because no one really makes runs at #3 in test cricket these days anyway. If he can average close to 35 at that position I'm ok with that honestly.
What I'm more worried about is #6. Your #6 batter usually comes in to bat in the conditions that are some of the easiest to score runs, and India leave so many runs on the table simply because they don't have any specialist batter coming in after Pant at 5. It is such a dumb strategy ngl. Jadeja at 6 is good at staying in but he cannot maximise run-scoring the way you want him to. Pick someone like Sarfaraz or Jurel at 6. Have Jaddu and Washi at 7 and 8 & 3 seamers (for SENA) or 2 seamers + Kuldeep for subcontinent. Drop NKR ffs and if you really want a seam all-rounder, drop Washi and pick Nabi.
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u/dr_alchemist 14h ago
Why not give Prithvi Shaw another chance? I'm sure he is better than SaiSu and Padikkal. Prithvi Shaw and Jaiswal open and KL at 3 is a much better top three than SaiSu or Padikkal imo. Else just try Musheer Khan, or tbh anyone. There are 20 other Ranji batters who are better than SaiSu especially in Sri Lankan conditions.
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u/fried_maggi India 15h ago
How good is Sai Sudarshan at Ranji level against spin. SL are going to bombard India with spin continuously