Picture Credit: X/IPL
The Rohit Sharma-led Team India will travel to England to kickstart their 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle with a five-match Test series, starting from June 20. Ahead of the highly-anticipated series, Team India will be aiming to correct all their past mistakes, seeing them go down against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and get cleansweeped in home Test series against New Zealand.
Hoping to put all chords right, former India cricketer and head coach Ravi Shastri has urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to consider youngster Sai Sudharsan, who has been in brilliant form off late. Shastri also opined that Sudharsan being a left-handed batter, will be a good pick.
I see Sai Sudharsan for all formats of the game: Ravi Shastri
Speaking on The ICC review, the former India cricketer stated, "I see this young man, Sai Sudharsan, for all formats of the game. He seems like a class player and my eyes would be on him certainly.” Further putting forth the reason behind picking Sudharsan, Shastri added, “Being a left-hander in England, knowing English conditions, and just his technique, the way he plays, I think he'll be top of the list for me from the outsiders wanting to get into this side."
The 62-year-old also added that Shreyas Iyer could make a comeback in the longest format, but might face a stiff competition. "He (Shreyas Iyer) can (make a comeback), but it's again going to be a competition. White-ball, certain. Test cricket, we've got to see who the other players are around," Shastri said. The 62-year-old also reckoned that with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami back in the side, India should also include a left-arm seamer.
"I'll be looking for a left-armer. I'll be keeping an eye on which left-armer is in good form, and try and squeeze him in there as the sixth (bowling) option," said the former India captain. "It could be anyone. It could even be a white-ball specialist. I don't like this thing when they say someone like Arshdeep Singh is a 'white-ball specialist'," Shastri said.
