Aakash Chopra has mentioned Sai Sudharsan as a possible alternative for Virat Kohli in the Indian team’s opening two Tests against England.
Rohit Sharma and his team will play England in a five-Test series, with the first match beginning in Hyderabad on Thursday, January 25.
Kohli, nominated to India’s team for the first two games, has withdrawn from the Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam Tests for personal reasons.
In a YouTube video, Chopra mentioned Rajat Patidar, Devdutt Padikkal, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Rinku Singh as potential successors for Kohli.
He believes Sudharsan may be a choice, arguing (6:30):
The third left-hander that springs to mind is Sai Sudharsan.
It’s an unusual proposal, but it isn’t incorrect. He scored runs in the IPL final, but he’s not a one-trick pony.
He is constantly making runs, and with his clean style of play, he appears to be destined for Test cricket, according to the former India opener.
Sudharsan scored 127 runs at an average of 63.50 in the three One-Day Internationals he played against South Africa last month.
In 15 first-class games, the Tamil Nadu left-hander has scored 989 runs at an average of 39.56, including 97 runs in India A’s latest match against the England Lions.
Sarfaraz’s name should logically have appeared long ago – Aakash Chopra discusses if Sarfaraz Khan may replace Virat Kohli
Aakash Chopra believes Sarfaraz Khan should have been selected for Test cricket long ago (5:20).
We get so enamored with white-ball cricket that if a Test spot becomes available, we give it to whoever is performing well in white-ball cricket.
We accomplished this with SKY Suryakumar Yadav vs Australia.
The cricketer-turned-commentator noted that the Mumbai batters’ performances had dipped marginally since India’s last home series against Australia.
Sarfaraz was most likely next in line.
It was unfortunate that his name did not appear at the time, but his results have been somewhat mixed since then, although he maintains an average of around 70 in first-class cricket.
Chopra believes Sarfaraz may have been a little saddened and lost enthusiasm after being constantly ignored.
He finished by asking whether the 26-year-old should not be selected if first-class achievements are to be recognised.
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