Watch: Cheteshwar Pujara hands Sai Sudharsan his Test cap on India debut ahead of 1st game against England
Published - 20 Jun 2025, 03:00 PM | Updated - 20 Jun 2025, 05:19 PM
Out-of-favour Team India batter Cheteshwar Pujara handed Sai Sudharsan his maiden international cap before the first Test of the five-match series against England. Sudharsan got his opportunity following the retirements of veteran batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from the longer format of the game.
Sai Sudharsan has been handed his Test debut after impressing with consistent performances in domestic cricket and the IPL. The Tamil Nadu batter received Test cap No. 317 ahead of the toss for the first Test against England. Sudharsan is expected to take the No. 3 position in a reshuffled batting order.
Watch: Cheteshwar Pujara Hands Sai Sudharsan His First Test Cap
Sai Sudharsan received his maiden Test cap from Cheteshwar Pujara, who had long held the No. 3 spot in India’s batting lineup. The 23-year-old left-handed batter joined an elite list of Indian legends, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and Virat Kohli, who also made their Test debuts on June 20.
The selectors have shown faith in Sai’s skills despite a first-class average of 39.93 from 49 innings. He has experience in English conditions, having played a handful of County Championship games for Surrey in 2023 and 2024. Sudharsan averaged 35 in five games and scored a century against Nottinghamshire.
Watch the video of the same posted by a user on X (formerly known as Twitter) below:
A LOVELY MOMENT 🥹❤️
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) June 20, 2025
- Pujara giving the Test Cap to Sai Sudharsan, The New Number 3. pic.twitter.com/jn66Vkg6Hf
— Drizzyat12Kennyat8 (@45kennyat7PM) June 20, 2025
Sai Sudharsan Missed India A Games Against England Lions
The Tamil Nadu batter missed the India A matches against England Lions earlier this month as he was busy with Gujarat Titans' campaign in IPL 2025, where he delivered a stellar performance. The left-hander scored 759 runs in 15 matches at an impressive average of 49.80, helping GT reach the playoffs.
Sudharsan had yet to make his Test debut before the England series. He had already represented India in limited-overs cricket, with three ODIs and one T20I under his belt. The 23-year-old was part of India’s intra-squad warm-up game a few days prior to the start of the first Test against England.
Sai Sudharsan Made His First-Class Debut in 2022
The soutpaw scored 304 runs in just three matches at a remarkable average of 76.00, including one century and a fifty, during the 2024–25 Ranji Trophy season. He made his first-class debut in 2022 and has amassed 1,957 runs in 29 matches at an average of 39.93, with seven hundreds and five fifties.
Sudharsan first gained attention in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Premier League, where he was the second-highest run-scorer. His consistent form across domestic and franchise cricket eventually earned him a call-up to the Indian Test side.
Sudharsan also has experience in English conditions, having played county cricket for Surrey. In the 2023 season, he scored 116 runs in two matches. In 2024, he scored 165 runs across three games, including a century. His technically sound batting drew praise from fans and experts alike.
Also read: Sachin Tendulkar predicts IND vs ENG winner
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Cheteshwar Pujara Sai Sudharsan India National Cricket Team England National Cricket Team India vs England IND vs ENGAbout the Author
Sai Vaitla is an author at Cricketaddictor and he has been working since September 2022. Sai Vaitla... Read more
