Gambhir confirms Sai Sudharsan will play against Afghanistan, promises a ‘longer rope.’
Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir has confirmed Sai Sudharsan will bat at number three in the one-off Test against Afghanistan, emphasizing the need to give the young left-hander a prolonged run to permanently solve India's top-order issues
New Chandigarh: India head coach Gautam Gambhir has thrown his absolute weight behind young top-order batter Sai Sudharsan, confirming that the left-hander will occupy the crucial number three position in the one-off Test against Afghanistan beginning here on Saturday.
Speaking ahead of the match, Gambhir stressed the absolute necessity of showing patience with Sudharsan, who is set to get another opportunity in a batting slot that has remained highly unstable since Cheteshwar Pujara’s exit from the Test side.
“Sai Sudharsan hasn’t got a fair chance yet. Yes, he played in England, but we will give him a longer rope,” Gambhir stated during the pre-match press conference.
Asked if Devdutt Padikkal would get a chance given his blistering domestic red-ball form, Gambhir clarified that players must occasionally bide their time. “You can only pick an XI, unfortunately. Sometimes you just have to wait for your opportunity. I’ve always believed that the guys we choose to play must be given a fair run. And again, Sai is not in bad form either; he just scored 722 runs in the IPL. If judging players by only four or five Test matches is our benchmark, then I feel we will never be able to build a sustainable team.”
“So, hopefully, Padikkal will get his chance. Whenever his time comes, we’ll give him a fair run as well. It’s not about giving someone five Test matches and someone else just one. If we give someone a fair run, we’ll give the next guy a fair run whenever his opportunity arrives. But at the moment, I think we have got to give Sai a proper chance. He’s a world-class player, and I’m sure he’ll come good,” he added.
India has struggled to find a permanent occupant for the one-drop spot since Pujara’s departure. Since then, several batters have rotated through the position, including Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel, Devdutt Padikkal, and Sudharsan.
Gill enjoyed the longest stint at number three before shifting to number four after taking over the Test captaincy following the international red-ball retirements of stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Sudharsan has featured in six Tests so far, averaging just over 27, but the team management remains firmly confident in his long-term prospects.
Despite India’s current sixth-place standing in the World Test Championship (WTC) points table with 48.15 percent of available points, Gambhir maintained that the side remains very much in contention for a spot in the final. “We completely believe that we can win the WTC. There is immense talent and hunger in this dressing room,” Gambhir said.
The head coach also revealed that the Afghanistan Test would help management assess their spin-bowling depth ahead of the upcoming two-Test tour of Sri Lanka. Left-arm spinners Manav Suthar and Harsh Dubey are currently competing for a place in the line-up.
“Manav and Harsh are, to a certain extent, similar, but they are different in terms of their release points. This match gives us a golden chance to determine our fourth spinner, as we intend to take four spinners to Sri Lanka,” Gambhir concluded.