Aakash Chopra has suggested that Sai Sudharsan could be a suitable replacement for Virat Kohli in the Indian squad for the first two Tests against England. The Indian team is set to play a five-Test series, commencing in Hyderabad on January 25. Virat Kohli, originally part of the squad for the first two matches, has decided to skip the Tests in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam due to personal reasons.
The third left-hander that comes to my mind is Sai Sudharsan- Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra, in a video on his YouTube channel, mentioned several potential replacements for Virat Kohli in the Indian squad for the first two Tests against England. He suggested Rajat Patidar, Devdutt Padikkal, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Rinku Singh as some options. Additionally, Chopra considered Sai Sudharsan as another viable option for the middle-order position, he explained his views,
“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,”
“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.
Sai Sudharsan has displayed his batting prowess in recent ODIs against South Africa, accumulating 127 runs at an average of 63.50. His consistent performances extend to the first-class format, where he has notched up 989 runs, including an impressive 97-run innings against the England Lions, at an average of 39.56 in 15 games.
Sarfaraz Khan’s name should logically have come long back– Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra expressed his belief that Sarfaraz Khan should have been given an opportunity in Test cricket much earlier, highlighting the batsman’s consistent performances and strong case for inclusion in the 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,”
Aakash Chopra noted that Sarfaraz Khan’s form has experienced a slight decline since the last home series against Australia. Chopra said,
“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.”
Chopra questioned whether Sarfaraz Khan shouldn’t be picked if performances in first-class cricket need to be rewarded, considering the 26-year-old might have felt heartbroken and lost some motivation after being repeatedly ignored.