IPL superstar and Gujarat Titans opening batter Sai Sudharsan made his Test debut for India in the first match of the five-Test series against England. The Tamil Nadu left-handed batsman earned himself a place in the playing XI for the Leeds Test on Friday, June 20.
Prior to the toss, Cheteshwar Pujara presented the Test cap to Sudharsan. Indian captain Shubman Gill later revealed that Sai would be batting at number three, a crucial spot in the order.
There is something unique about June 20 in Indian Test cricket. On this very date in 1996, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid began their Test cricket journey against England at the legendary Lord’s ground.
Ganguly batted at number three and played a strong 131 off 301 balls. He contributed a precious 94-run stand with Dravid, who batted at number seven and tallied 95 runs.
Fast forward to 2011 and Virat Kohli also made his debut on the 20th of June. His debut Test was against West Indies in Kingston. Although Kohli scored only 4 runs off 10 balls, the day marked the beginning of an illustrious career.
In this opening Test of the series, England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and decided to bowl first. Therefore, India will occupy the crease to start their innings.
Besides Sudharsan, Karun Nair returned to the Test team after a gap of more than 3000 days since his last match in 2017. Nair will bat at position number six.
Shardul Thakur was chosen ahead of Nitish Kumar Reddy as the fast bowling all-rounder. In the Indian team, Ravindra Jadeja is the lone spinner for this game.
For Sai Sudharsan, his Test debut on June 20 is about more than just the thrill of representing India. It binds him to a team of cricketers who all started their Test careers on this special date.
As he gets ready to take on England at Headingley, Sudharsan can go on to make his own special chapter, in the footsteps of legends such as Ganguly, Dravid, and Kohli.
(Playing XI)
India: Shubman Gill(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant(w), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
England: Ben Stokes(c), Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith(w), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.
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