Sai Sudharsan could be the long-term answer for Team India in Tests at no. 3, but for now the southpaw batter doesn’t look ready. It is one of those situations in Indian cricket, where a certain section wants him to get a longer rope, whereas the others want new players to be tried. His average of 30 at no. 3 in the five matches he has played — including two fifties, have only raised a certain level of confusion.
Sai Sudharsan Axed, Washington Sundar at No. 3
Also, it seems as if, the world knows about his so-called weakness on the incoming delivery. Nonetheless, he was replaced by Washington Sundar at the position — in the first Test against South Africa at Kolkata. He might fail, succeed — but is India looking at him in the long-run if he delivers?
| Batter | Runs | Average | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shubman Gill | 1019 | 37.74 | 3 | 3 |
| Sai Sudharsan | 273 | 30.33 | 0 | 2 |
| KL Rahul | 112 | 16.00 | 0 | 1 |
| Virat Kohli | 1084 | 37.37 | 3 | 6 |
| Karun Nair | 111 | 27.75 | 0 | 0 |
| Devdutt Padikkal | 25 | 12.50 | 0 | 0 |
Those are the questions that Gautam Gambhir, Ajit Agarkar and the management will have to answer soon; since the 2023 WTC final, that happened to be Cheteshwar Pujara’s last match, India has tried 6 different players, Washi being the 7th. So, who has the best numbers, or potential among those?
No Clear Picture for Long Run
Look, current skipper Shubman Gill has played a few memorable knock at no. 3. It started with 104 vs ENG at Vizag, followed by 110 in Dharamsala; 119 vs Bangladesh, and 90 vs New Zealand at Mumbai. In 17 matches he averages 38 at the position, but then in the last 12 months, he averaged only 18 in 5 matches, scoring 93 runs in all. So, that is when he had to move a rung lower from the ENG series.
Then, Virat Kohli too was tried for one match, but looked more of a make-shift arrangement — where he scored 0 and 70. Another veteran — Karun Nair was tried for just England series and he too failed, scoring 111 runs at an average of 27. Another Karnataka batter Devdutt Padikkal was tried in 1st Test vs AUS, at this position, and all he could manage was 25 in two innings.
Give Batters Enough Chances at No. 3
Not to forget, KL Rahul played a match at no. 3 in Australia, and did not get any success as well, scoring 24 runs in all. These stats just go on to show, that the these batters are headed no where, if they aren’t given a persistent run, no matter how many options are tried.
What maybe worse is, if Washi fires, then will it be the end of Sai Sudharsan at no. 3 forever? Or it only serves a warning to the latter, that if the scores don’t come, the management won’t be reluctant to try out a new option?
