India is set to tour England for a five-match Test series starting on June 20. It will also mark a new era in the red-ball format under the leadership of Shubman Gill. The Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel announced an 18-member squad, which had quite a few new faces after the Test retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Sai Sudarshan is one such player who was handed a maiden call-up. However, even before he could make his debut, head coach Gautam Gambhir and Gill had a point of difference regarding Sudrashan's selection.
Ahead of the squad announcement on May 23, Gambhir and Gill were north and south poles apart when it came to discuss about GT opening batter. According to the report, the coach opposed Sudarshan's inclusion in the 18-member squad despite scoring over 600 runs in the ongoing IPL 2025 season. Gambhir's opposition towards the youngster was received as a shock by people who attended the meeting, considering he was a left-hand batter in the Test team.
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“Even the selectors were shocked by Gambhir’s choice of players. None of the board officials were available for comments. Gambhir himself was a left-handed opener, and opposing Sai’s name didn’t make much of a sense,” a BCCI source told CricBlogger.
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Sai Sudarshan touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket
It is to be noted that Sai Sudarshan is touted as the next big thing in Indian Cricket after his exploits in this IPL 2025 season and also while playing domestic tournaments for Tamil Nadu. The 23-year-old also has County experience, as he has represented Surry. His inclusion comes at a perfect time for the team in Test cricket, as India seeks long-term replacement players for Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
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The selectors feel the Southpaw can be a perfect fit at the top-order due to maturity and the right temperament. The GT opener is also pretty adaptive as he can play an anchor role and also bat aggressively if the situation demands.
