Gautam Gambhir was against Sai Sudharsan's inclusion, Shubman Gill fought for his GT teammate - Reports

Gautam Gambhir has been having a tough time as a coach of the Indian Cricket Team in the tests.

The Indian Cricket Team head coach, Gautam Gambhir, will face one of the biggest challenges in his career as a coach when his team takes on England in a five-match test series. The series between the two teams is all set to begin on 20th June at Headingley in Leeds. 

While the Indian players are busy with the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is making sure that they do everything right from their side for the five-match test series against England. The governing body recently announced the squad for the series, which will be part of the ICC World Test Championship cycle (2025-2027).

The major highlight of the Indian squad for the test series against England was the announcement of Shubman Gill as the captain. The young batter replaced Rohit Sharma in the role after the senior batter called time on his career in the longest format of the game. 

Another talking point from the Indian team was the selection of Sai Sudharsan. The Tamil Nadu batter received his maiden call-up to the test team after his performances in FC Cricket and the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The young batter is the orange cap holder in the league with over 650 runs. 

Gautam Gambhir was against Sai Sudharsan’s selection for England Tests – Reports

While his inclusion in the tests was welcomed by many, a report in Cricblogger has suggested a massive development. It is learned that head coach Gautam Gambhir was against Sai Sudharsan’s selection and didn’t want to take him to England for the tour. 

But skipper Shubman Gill took a stand for his Gujarat Titans teammate. The reports added that the right-hander was involved in a 30-minute discussion with Gautam Gambhir and managed to convince him, and hence, it was only then that Sai Sudharsan got a place in the Indian test team. 

A source close to the developments confirmed the same, saying that Gautam Gambhir, not wanting Sai Sudharsan in the team, left everyone in shock. Speaking to Cricblogger about the same, he said: 

“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 said. 

Gautam Gambhir has been having a tough time as a coach of the Indian Cricket Team in the tests. Under him, the team suffered a whitewash against New Zealand at home and, after that, faced a 3-1 thrashing against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.  

For more updates, follow Khel Now Cricket on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.