India Vs England: Sai Sudharsan Emulates WV Raman, Levels 37-Year-Old Record
Sai Sudharsan has become India's 317th Test cap, debuting against England after a stellar IPL 2025.
Star India batter Sai Sudharsan on Friday became the country's 317th Test cap, as he received his Baggy Blue from Cheteshwar Pujara ahead of the first Test against England in Leeds, in what is expected to be his big foot forward into international cricket, after a purple-cap-winning campaign in IPL 2025.
Although multiple experts have touted Sudharsan as an all-format player for India, his first-class numbers aren't at the greatest level yet compared to most other top-order batters who made their Test debuts for India.
Notably, Sudharsan is making his Test debut with a first-class average of 39.93, becoming just the second top-order Indian batter since WV Raman, also from Tamil Nadu, back in 1988, to make a debut in the longest format with an average below 40.
Sudharsan was a breakout talent from TNPL who was fast-tracked into Tamil Nadu's teams across formats and is remembered for his 47-ball 96 in the IPL 2023 final against the Chennai Super Kings.
Sudharsan made his first-class debut in the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy, against Hyderabad in December. He made a starry debut, scoring 179 and 42 in the two innings to play a match-winning role in that game for his team.
Sudharsan finished that season as the second-highest run-scorer for Tamil Nadu, with 572 runs in seven matches at an average of 47.66 and two hundreds to his name.
Sudharsan's last first-class appearance came against Vidarbha in the quarterfinal of the recent Ranji Trophy, but he scored just seven and two in both innings.
Sudharsan currently has 1957 runs from 29 matches with seven hundreds to his name, besides five half-centuries.
Notably, on his Test debut against the Windies at his home ground in Chennai in January 1988, Raman batted at 4 in the first innings and could score just nine runs. In the second innings, he batted at 3, the same position where Sudharsan is supposed to bat, and scored a crucial 83 off 205 balls.
Raman's knock included a 33-run partnership with Kris Srikkanth, an 87-run stand with Mohammad Azharuddin and a 61-run partnership with Ajay Sharma, before his knock was ended by Courtney Walsh.
India went on to win the match by 255 runs, riding on Kapil Dev's first-innings century, Narendra Hirwani's 16-wicket haul across both innings.
Sai Sudharsan emulates Virat Kohli, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid
Notably, Sudharsan will be making his Test debut on the same day as ace India batter Kohli and former captains Ganguly and Dravid, who also received their maiden Test cap on June 20.
While Kohli made his Test debut against the Windies on June 20, 2011 in Kingston, Ganguly and Dravid played their first Test on the same day, also against England, on June 20, 1996 at the Lord's.
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