India cricket team are tasked with choosing between Sai Sudharsan and Devdutt Padikkal as the number three batter for the upcoming one-off Test against Afghanistan. The Tamil Nadu batter was roped in as India’s number three batter last year, but put up a rather sub-par performance in the red-ball format of the game. In 2026, he is likely to be replaced by the Karnataka batter – who has performed well in the previous Ranji Trophy edition. Despite having recorded a 700-run season in IPL 2026, DDP is primed to occupy the number 3 spot in the one-off Test against Afghanistan over Sudharsan.
Why Padikkal deserves Test spot over Sudharsan
In Ranji Trophy 2025/26, Padikkal scored 543 runs from 11 innings, at an average of 54.30. He last featured in a Test in 2024. He has played just 2 red-ball format matches for India so far, and has scored 90 runs at an average of 30. With 3627 runs from 54 first-class matches, Padikkal is more experienced when it comes to red-ball cricket in comparison to Sai Sudharsan.
“There’s been lot of changes in that spot and that is not ideal. Padikkal comes with ton of runs and Sudharsan had a good IPL. We want to take a decision and trust that person to grow into that role,” India assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate said.
Meanwhile, Sudharsan – who has been impressive in the IPL 2026 (722 runs from 17 matches), managed to score just 302 runs in the 6 Tests that he has played. In his last Test outing against South Africa, he scored 15 and 14 runs in two innings. Previously, one of the choices for the number 3 batter was Karun Nair. However, after repeated failures, the selectors decided to deploy Sudharsan at number 3 – an experiment that did not do well as per their expectations.
Ever since Pujara is gone, India have been struggling to get a long-time no. 3. While Sudharsan has failed to do well at that position over the last year, Padikkal could be given a chance to cement his spot. With 3627 runs from 54 first-class matches, Padikkal is more experienced when it comes to red-ball cricket in comparison to Sai Sudharsan (2591 runs from 35 matches). Therefore, it won’t come as a surprise if the selectors opt for DDP over Sai Su as India’s number 3 for the one-off Test against Afghanistan.
India squad for one-off AFG Test
Shubman Gill (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (vice-captain), Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey, Dhruv Jurel (wicket-keeper)
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