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Cricket PlayersGambhir and Gill questioned after Sai Sudharsan dropped from Test team out of the blue: ‘Told Rohit Sharma…’
Sai Sudharsan found himself on the bench as he lost his number three spot to Washington Sundar, despite having scored 87 in his last Test innings.
Every Indian Test match seems to come around with one or two contentious selection decisions. Heading into the first match of the series against South Africa in Kolkata, the most controversial call was Sai Sudharsan being dropped from number three, despite scoring 87 the last time he batted in a Test match. Ahead of him, Shubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir opted for Washington Sundar, playing his first innings in the number three slot.
Sudharsan has certainly not had the best time of it in his young Test career thus far, being in and out of the team during the tour of England. After his selection in the first place was a contentious one, given he doesn’t necessarily have the best First Class record, demands were for the Indian team leadership to back him in that position and give him a long rope to make that role his own.
However, a policy of chopping and changing has meant Sudharsan finds himself on the outskirts of the team again, with Gambhir and Gill earning criticism for the lack of patience around the team.
Posting on his account on X, former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaid said: “The decision to drop 24-year-old Sai Sudarshan after his 87 in the last Test is puzzling.”
Kaif further argued that there were mixed messages emerging from the team selection, with Sudharsan being dropped despite the stance from the team being that they were keeping an eye on the future with the appointment of Gill as captain over Rohit Shatma.
“We were told Rohit Sharma was replaced as captain because of his age now the team management shows no patience with a youngster,” argued Kaif, before adding on that this is a risky ploy in terms of team morale: “Confusing signals are not good for the dressing room.”
Sudharsan seems to be a victim of Gambhir’s desire to have an all-rounder heavy core to his team, with the injury to Nitish Kumar Reddy and the form of Dhruv Jurel meaning Axar Patel’s inclusion was forced to shore up batting depth as well as the spin resources. With a batter needing to be sacrificed for this to take place, Sudharsan was on the chopping block.
Gambhir has received criticism for his reliance on all-rounders and not specialists, and in this match was also questioned for the need to play four spinners, with Kuldeep Yadav also in operation alongside Washington, Axar Patel, and Ravindra Jadeja. Only two seam-bowling options were included at the Eden Gardens.
Sundar remains unbeaten at the crease at stumps on day 1, as India bowled out the Proteas cheaply on a low-scoring day of cricket in Kolkata.
