“Why is he still in the team?” - Former India batter’s brutal statement on Sai Sudharsan amid IND vs SA 2025 1st Test

England v India - 5th Rothesay Test Match: Day Two - Source: Getty
Sai Sudharsan's name was surprisingly missing from India's playing XI for the opening South African Test [Credit: Getty]

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra slammed the management for dropping Sai Sudharsan for the opening Test against South Africa in Kolkata, starting today, November 14. In a surprising decision, the hosts went with four spin-bowling options in the XI, resulting in Sai missing out.

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The 24-year-old hasn't made the best of starts to his Test career, averaging only a tick over 30 with two half-centuries in nine innings. Yet, he enjoyed inarguably his most productive outing with the bat in India's most recent second Test against the West Indies in Delhi.

Sai scored his highest Test score of 87 in the first innings, followed by a defiant 39 in the final innings.

Reacting to Sai Sudharsan missing out on the ongoing Kolkata Test against South Africa, Chopra said (via India Today):

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"If you’re not convinced with Sai Sudharsan’s batting after what he did in Delhi, then why is he still in the squad? Why keep him in the team? It can’t be that just because you need fifteen players, you include him even though you have no belief in him. That’s not how it works. So their thinking I don’t understand it."
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He continued:

"Let me play devil’s advocate — there were three spinners, two fast bowlers, and West Indies didn’t get bowled out by us the second time. And it was a flat pitch; maybe they felt they wouldn’t bowl them out, so they wanted one more bowler. I don’t think the decision had anything to do with batting. If Washington plays, or if Axar plays, they will score so many runs that you won’t miss Sai Sudharsan’s batting contribution."
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Apart from the four spinners, India also included both specialist wicketkeepers, Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel, in the playing XI for the series opener against the Proteas.

"If you don’t identify the right guy now, then what?" - Aakash Chopra

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Aakash Chopra further questioned India's decision to constantly change their No. 3 Test batter in the wake of Cheteshwar Pujara's retirement. India tried Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair at one-drop in their 2-2 drawn series in England, before going with the former in the most recent home series against the West Indies.

Washington Sundar looks set to bat at the position in the ongoing Kolkata Test, as per the team sheet shared during the toss.

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"The No. 3 spot cannot become a game of musical chairs. Rahul Dravid, Cheteshwar Pujara — if you don’t identify the right guy now, then what? There was Karun Nair, maybe next time you’ll see Abhimanyu Easwaran — and then Sai doesn’t get prepared at all," said Chopra (via the aforementioned source).

Meanwhile, India lost yet another toss in the ongoing first Test against South Africa and are bowling first. The visitors have scored at a rapid rate, racing to 69/2 at the end of 15 overs.

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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran
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