Sai Sudharsan’s maiden Test outing was short-lived as he was sent packing for a duck by England skipper Ben Stokes in the 1st innings. The Tamil Nadu batter, who was named India’s new number 3, walked out to bat just before lunch following KL Rahul’s departure. However, he lasted for just four deliveries before he was forced to walk back to the pavilion.
Sudharsan departs for duck on debut
Sudharsan was almost trapped on his pads off his very first delivery in Test cricket off Brydon Carse. However, he appeared to get lucky as it looked like it was bat first. A single from Jaiswal in the first ball of the final over before lunch forced Sai to get back on strike. While he left the second ball, the third delivery was pretty similar to the one that he was dismissed, except that the ball had clipped past his thigh pad.
Sudharsan attempted the same shot down the leg side in his fourth delivery, only to end up being caught behind by Jamie Smith. As a result, England found their second breakthrough just before lunch.
Indian Players Duck in Debut Match (Top 7 Batters, since 2000}
- Ajay Ratra, 2002
Wriddhiman Saha, 2010
Hanuma Vihari, 2018
Sai Sudharsan, 2025*
Commenting on Sudharsan’s dismissal, veteran Cheteshwar Pujara urged fans to give the batter some more time, noting that he might have been tensed since it was his first outing. He noted that there was no need to criticize the batter harshly, noting that getting out on the leg side on debut was something a batter could do nothing about.
“When you’re playing your first game, you’re eager to get off the mark, and that’s probably why he went for that ball, even though it was quite wide of leg stump. Normally, he wouldn’t go for that. But he was tense-it’s natural on debut. Let’s give him some time,” Pujara said on commentary.
England won the toss and opted to bowl first at Hadingley, Leeds. Yashasvi Jaiswal (42*) and KL Rahul (42) stitched together a 91-run partnership, frustrating England almost up until lunch. However, Rahul was the first Indian batter to depart after he edged one off Carse to Joe Root in the slips. In the very next over, Stokes struck to send Sudharsan packing. India managed to finish at 92/2 at Lunch on Day 1, with England handing the visitors a couple of last-minute blows.
Sudharsan became India’s 317th Test player and was handed his maiden Test cap by Cheteshwar Puajara before the start of the game. While his maiden outing as India’s number 3 batsmen ended cheaply, he will be hoping to make better use of his time in the middle in the 2nd innings.
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