Shubman Gill dragged into picture after Sai Sudharsan's flop show in IND vs SA 2nd Test; ‘Playing on GT Captain Quota?’

Shubman Gill was unnecessarily dragged into picture after Sai Sudharsan managed just 15 runs in the first innings of the ongoing second Test against South Africa in Guwahati on Monday. With no Shubman Gill, a lot was expected from Sudharsan at no.3 to hold the Indian innings after South Africa posted 489 in their first essay.

But Sudharsan managed to play just 40 balls in the middle before being brilliantly caught by Ryan Rickelton, who grabbed the ball in two attempts at the mid-wicket region. The dismissal of Sudharsan didn't go well with the fans, who called the southpaw's place in the Test team is because Gill's quota. Notably, both Gill and Sudharsan represent Gujarat Titans.

While Gill is the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Sudharsan forms a formidable opening pair with his captain in the cash-rich league. “He's Getting So Many Chances Because He's Gill's Friend, While Other Players Are Dropped After Just One or Two Matches,” an suer wrote on X, venting his frustration.

“Sai Wasn't Even Selected Based On His Domestic Performance, He Was Selected For Tests Based On His IPL Performance,” he added. Even head coach Gautam Gambhir wasn't sparred for Sudharsan's inclusion in the playing XI over the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad, and others.

Following the dismissal of Sudharsan, the Indian batting crumbled like a pack of cards at the Barsapara stadium, thanks to Marco Jansen's four-wicket burst. The likes of Dhruv Jurel, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja and Nitish Kumar Reddy all fell to the tall and lanky left-arm South African pacer as the Indian scoreboard read from 96/3 to 122/7 within 10 overs.

Sai Sudharsan's record in Test cricket

The Tamil Nadu made his Test debut for India in England earlier this year. Since then, Sudharsan played six Tests, scoring only 288 runs, which included two fifty-plus scores. Sudharsan's maiden Test fifty came in England, before registering his career-best score of 87 in the second Test against West Indies at home.

He wasn't a part of the Indian playing XI against South Africa in the first Test in Kolkata. Washington Sundar was promoted at no.3 by the Indian team management. In the preceding two unofficial Tests against South Africa A, Sudharsan failed to register a fifty in four innings.

Sudharsan came into the Indian team on the back of a strong domestic show in the past two years. In 38 first-class matches so far, Sudharsan managed 2562 runs at an average of 39.41, including a double hundred. He has so far smashed eight hundreds to his name for Tamil Nadu.