Ex-England batter points out attributes that could help Sudharsan thrive in England, gives advice to young opener

Surrey,jun 8
Former England cricketer Alec Stewart hailed young Indian batter Sai Sudharsan, saying that while with legend Virat Kohli gone from long format, the shoes will be big to fill up, his quick learning ability and array of shots will serve him well for India in Test cricket.Sudharsan, who has already made three ODI appearances with 127 runs and two fifties and a T20I appearance for India, will be looking forward to making his Test debut for India during the five-Test England tour starting from June 20, which will kickstart not only India’s ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 cycle, but also a new era under captaincy of Shubman Gill following retirements of legends Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.Sudharsan has played 29 first-class games so far, with 1,957 runs in 49 innings at an average of 39.93 with seven centuries and five fifties. His best individual score is 213. While these numbers are not the best on domestic scene, his talent and potential was on full display during the recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL), where he walked away with the Orange Cap for most runs and ‘Emerging Player of the Season’ award, scoring a massive 759 runs in 15 matches at an average of 54.21, strike rate of above 156, a century and six fifties.His ability to shift gears and bat according to situation was evident in Gujarat Titans’ run till the eliminator against Mumbai Indians (MI), where he played a fighting knock during a tightly-contested match.However, when Surrey first picked Sudharsan in 2023, he had played less than 10 first-class games and was yet to make his international debut. However, he made up for his lack of experience with detailed and brilliant preparation. Stewart, who was once England’s most capped Test player with 8.463 runs and 15 centuries in 133 Tests, was left impressed with Sai’s commitment to the game.Before his first game for Surrey against Northamptonshire back in September 2023, Sudharsan played for the team’s second XI at Guildford, to acquaint himself with English conditions and Dukes ball better.Stewart recalled that Sudharsan came in as an unknown, with GT Director of Cricket and ex-England player Vikram Solanki playing a big role in recommending him.”Sai came as an unknown, and his experience of the English game was very limited. Vikram Solanki was massive in recommending him to me, and I have so much respect for Vikram.
From his first training session, you could see that he was a special talent, and he has not looked back. He loves to bat – whether in the nets or the middle – and just fitted into our set-up perfectly,” said Stewart as quoted by ESPNCricinfo. The five-test tour of England, starting June 20 at Leeds and lasting until August 2025, is set to be a heavy one for fans and players alike. With senior stars Rohit and Virat having retired from the longest format of the game, the onus lies on the Shubman Gill-led new-look Indian side to prove themselves away from home in tough English conditions and ensure that Indian cricket is safe.The series will be held from June to August 2025, with matches scheduled at Headingley in Leeds, Edgbaston in Birmingham, Lord’s and The Oval in London, and Old Trafford in Manchester.
India’s Test squad for England series: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.