Sai Reformson comes at number 3 for Team India against England, Shubman Gill at number 4

Yashasvi Jaiswal is the main opener on the England tour, Karun Nair has done well, and so have KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel, in the ongoing India A Test series vs England Lions. Shubman Gill is of course the captain, so where really is the slot for the very-talented Sai Sudharsan? The man is fresh from an exceptional IPL 2025, where he finished as the orange cap winner, and has showed maturity to play Test cricket..

Former Australia skipper Michael Clarke feels, that despite the tough competition within the Indian team for the vacant batting spots, Sai Sudharsan should be batting at No. 3, while Gill drops down to No. 4. “To me, this kid is a superstar, Sai Sudharsan. I think he is a number three in Test cricket. I think he is probably going to open the batting in time in India’s T20I and ODI team. He is in their Test squad. He gets his first opportunity in England,” Clarke said on the Beyond23 Cricket podcast.

There are questions being raised over his sub-par, under 40 average in FC cricket, but then that doesn’t really matter. “I think he can walk in straight to bat at number three. I think technically he’s very good, he’s got all the shots and mentally, he’s ready. He really impressed me and he’s a good looking player as well,” Clarke said.

In fact, he has had two County sessions — 2023, and 2024, and has scored a 100 and 50 in the five matches he has played, at an average of 35. That experience could just come in handy in the upcoming series from June 20.

India Squad: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc, wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudarshan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.