India vs England: Test Cap number 317 – Chennai erupts as local lad Sai Sudharsan makes dream debut for India in whites

Leeds: England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bowl against India in the opening Test of the five-match series for the newly-minted Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, here on Friday.

India handed Test debut to left-handed batter B Sai Sudharsan while seasoned middle-order batter Karun Nair came back into the playing XI along with all-rounder Shardul Thakur.

India captain Shubman Gill confirmed at the toss that Sudharsan will bat at the No 3 slot.

Dream come true

Sai Sudharsan, a tall and elegant left-handed batter from Chennai, is known for his stylish stroke play and part-time leg-spin. The son of two athletes, he rose to prominence in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Premier League, finishing as the second-highest run-scorer. That year, he debuted for Tamil Nadu in limited-overs cricket. His performances earned him a spot in the team that won the 2022 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and he soon became a regular across all formats. Sudharsan impressed in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2022-23 with 610 runs, followed by two centuries in his debut Ranji season. He earned an India call-up for the 2023 ODI series in South Africa, scoring two notable fifties. In the IPL, he joined Gujarat Titans in 2022, gradually becoming a key player. His standout 2024 season included 527 runs and a century, leading to his retention by GT for ₹8.50 crore ahead of the 2025 IPL auction – The GT batter was declared the ‘Emerging Player’ this season for his stellar performance.

Friends and family of the talented cricketer back home in Chennai are now celebrating as Sudharsan has been included in the playing XI for Headingley Test.

Karun Nair too made a comeback to the Indian side after a long hiatus.

"Life has come full circle" 

A couple of days ago, Karun Nair had declared he is "ready" for the five-match gruelling Test series against England, which will kick off on Friday at Headingley.

In 2018, Karun boarded the plane that flew to England but couldn't earn a spot in the final XI throughout the tour. In the aftermath of the series, Karun was dropped from the Test fold and put in the hard yards in the domestic setup to climb his way back to the team.

After dazzling in the last Ranji Trophy season, Karun returned to the side seven years later for a tour of England, the same venue that marked his exit from the team. The retirements of batting bigwigs Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli opened enough space for his return as India eyes its first Test win at Headingley since 2002 under the brand new leadership of Shubman Gill.

"Life has come to a full circle. I went out of the team in England, and now I am coming back to the team in England, so it has been a while, and I am trying to embrace that," the 33-year-old batter said in a video posted by the BCCI.

Throughout this phase, Karun never lost belief, kept his hunger intact, and finally got back on the team after seeing all his teammates. As he prepares for another opportunity to cement his place in the team, Karun feels honoured to wear the Indian jersey again.

"My first thought when I woke up was I want to play Test cricket, I want to play for India again. That's probably what kept me going and kept me hungry, the driving force to go to training every day to go to practice every day. Never losing that belief and having that target to reach was something that helped me. Feeling honoured to wear this jersey and honoured to represent my country," he said.

"When I saw everyone for the first time, that's where I really felt it, that I am finally in the team. Till then, it was like a wait for me to kind of start feeling that I had made it again. Don't chase perfection; try and dream big. Have that belief in yourself that anything can happen at any point of time. Hi, this is Karun Nair, and I am ready to go," he added.

India's squad: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (VC & WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav. (With inputs from Agencies)