Watch: Cheteshwar Pujara hands Sai Sudharsan his Test cap on India debut ahead of 1st game against England

Out-of-favour Team India batter Cheteshwar Pujara handed Sai Sudharsan his maiden international cap before the first Test of the five-match series against England. Sudharsan got his opportunity following the retirements of veteran batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from the longer format of the game.

Sai Sudharsan has been handed his Test debut after impressing with consistent performances in domestic cricket and the IPL. The Tamil Nadu batter received Test cap No. 317 ahead of the toss for the first Test against England. Sudharsan is expected to take the No. 3 position in a reshuffled batting order.

Watch: Cheteshwar Pujara Hands Sai Sudharsan His First Test Cap

Sai Sudharsan received his maiden Test cap from Cheteshwar Pujara, who had long held the No. 3 spot in India’s batting lineup. The 21-year-old left-handed batter joined an elite list of Indian legends, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and Virat Kohli, who also made their Test debuts on June 20.

The selectors have shown faith in Sai’s skills despite a first-class average of 39.93 from 49 innings. He has experience in English conditions, having played a handful of County Championship games for Surrey in 2023 and 2024. He averaged 35 in five games and scored a century against Nottinghamshire.