Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter Subramaniam Badrinath has advised the Indian team management, headed by Gautam Gambhir, not to drop the in-form batter Dhruv Jurel for Sai Sudharsan whenever the latter is back in the Test squad.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Badrinath insisted that dropping Jurel for Sudharsan doesn’t make sense. Notably, Jurel scored an exceptional half-century in the first innings of the first Test against Sri Lanka, stitching a 55-run stand with Manav Suthar.
“Why will you drop Dhruv Jurel? When he has been given the chance, he has not done anything wrong. You should not drop him. He has scored runs. Why should you drop him for Sudharsan to come back? When Sudharsan went out due to injury, Padikkal came in for him. Now, if Sai is fit, dropping Jurel or him does not make sense,” he said in a video on his YouTube channel.
On the other hand, Devdutt Padikkal, who took up Sudharsan’s No.3 spot, went on to score 211 runs across both innings of the first Test in Galle, raising questions on Sudharsan’s place in the playing XI.
“Cricket is a very harsh game for a player in India. Sudharsan also did nothing wrong as such, but he got injured. He was in good form. But now Devdutt came and scored runs. I think justice for any player is very difficult. This is the reality in a competitive country like India,” he said.
Delving into the details of the first Test, India batted first and posted 462 runs, thanks to Devdutt Padikkal’s 167-run knock. In response, Sri Lanka could score only 284 runs, with Sonal Dinusha scoring an unbeaten 100.
In the third innings, India went on to post 193 runs, with Rishabh Pant (66) being the top scorer. In the chase, Sri Lanka got bundled out for 206 runs as Manav Suthar scalped a six-wicket haul.
