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Aakash Chopra, the former Indian opener and cricket commentator, has suggested Sai Sudharsan as a potential replacement for Virat Kohli in the Indian squad for the first two Tests against England.
With the upcoming five-Test series between India and England set to commence on January 25 in Hyderabad, Rohit Sharma’s team is faced with the absence of Virat Kohli, who has opted out of the Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam Tests due to personal reasons.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra discussed several potential replacements for Kohli, including Rajat Patidar, Devdutt Padikkal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rinku Singh, and Sai Sudharsan. Regarding Sudharsan, Chopra stated:
“The third left-hander that comes to my mind is Sai Sudharsan. It’s a slightly out-of-the-box suggestion but it is not wrong. He scored runs in the IPL final but he is not a one-trick pony either.”
Chopra highlighted Sudharsan’s recent performances, emphasizing his adaptability across formats.
Chopra praised Sudharsan’s consistent run-scoring ability and clean technique, suggesting that he seems tailor-made for Test cricket.”He scores runs in all three formats. Recently, he scored fifties in his first two ODI innings and scored 90-plus runs against the England Lions as well. He is consistently scoring runs and the clean way in which he plays, it seems like he is made for Test cricket,” the former India opener added.
Sudharsan’s recent form has been impressive, particularly in the ODIs against South Africa where he amassed 127 runs at an average of 63.50. With a solid first-class record, including a 97-run knock against the England Lions, Sudharsan has proven his capabilities in the longer format.
In a related context, Chopra also expressed his views on Sarfaraz Khan, suggesting that the Mumbai batter should have been considered for Test cricket earlier. Despite Sarfaraz’s exceptional first-class record, Chopra noted that the focus on white-ball cricket often overshadows performances in the longer format.
“Sarfaraz’s name should logically have come long back. We get so enamored with white-ball cricket that as soon as there is an opening in Tests, we give it to whoever is doing well in white-ball cricket. We did that with SKY (Suryakumar Yadav) against Australia.”
Chopra concluded by questioning whether Sudharsan’s consistent performances in first-class cricket should be rewarded with a place in the Test squad as a replacement for Kohli.
“It was probably Sarfaraz’s turn then. It was wrong that his name didn’t come that time but since then, the performances have been slightly 50-50, although he still has an average of nearly 70 in first-class cricket.”
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