[Watch] Sai Sudharsan get his maiden test cap from Cheteshwar Pujara ahead of first ENG vs IND test, to bat at No. 3 for India

Sai Sudharsan has been slotted to bat at three in the first test against England.

In what is a dream moment for him, Sai Sudharsan is making his test debut for the Indian Cricket Team in the ongoing first test of the series against the England Cricket Team. The match between the two teams is taking place at Headingley in Leeds. 

Sai Sudharsan, who got his maiden test call-up for the England series, got the test cap from Cheteshwar Pujara, India’s former number three batter. Thus, it marks the passing of a legacy as a young batter is all set to bat at three, a position where Pujara racked up truckloads of runs. 

Sai Sudharsan will be keen to make a massive impact on his debut game and help his team win the game. The left-hander has been in terrific touch of late, both in First-Class (FC) Cricket as well as in the white-ball cricket. 

Sai Sudharsan was among the top performers for Tamil Nadu in the last edition of the Ranji Trophy. After that, he oozed his class with the bat in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, where he ended as the leading run-getter in the tournament with over 750 runs, playing for Gujarat Titans (GT).

Sai will bat at three – Shubman Gill

Skipper Shubman Gill, who lost the toss and was asked to bat first, also confirmed that Sai Sudharsan will be batting at three. While talking about the team combination, he said: 

“Would’ve bowled first as well, might be a bit tough in the first session but it should be good to bat on later. Sun is out, should be a good batting deck for us. Preperation has been amazing, we played a practice game in Beckenham, lads are feeling great. Sai makes his debut, Karun comes in. Sai will bat at three,” Shubman Gill said at the toss.

India and England’s playing XI for the first test at Headingley 

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna 

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jamie Smith(w), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir

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