Sai Sudharsan joins unwanted list with duck on Test debut
What's the story
Sai Sudharsan, the young Tamil Nadu batter, has become the first Indian in 14 years to get out for a duck on his Test debut.
He was dismissed without scoring a run in his maiden innings for India against England at Headingley, Leeds.
The incident took place during the final over of the opening session of the first Test match on Friday.
India, who were 91/1 when Sudharsan came in, went to lunch placed at 92/2.
Match details
Sudharsan departs in final over before lunch
Sudharsan was brought in to bat at No. 3 after KL Rahul's dismissal, which ended a solid opening partnership of 91 runs with Yashasvi Jaiswal.
He looked nervous at the crease and was seen making some tentative calls with Jaiswal.
However, on the fourth delivery of the final over before lunch, Ben Stokes got the batter.
England fielded a leg slip and kept bowling on the pads. Stokes also added a leg gully as well before dismissing Sudharsan.
Despite being mindful of the men behind, Sudharsan got drawn into his shot and paid the price, edging Stokes behind.
Do you know?
First Indian since Umesh Yadav with this record
As per India Today, with his duck, Sudharsan has joined an unwanted list of Indian players who have been dismissed for a duck in their first innings in Test cricket. Meanwhile, he is the first Indian since Umesh Yadav in 2011 to suffer such a fate.
List
Sudharsan joins an unwanted list
List of Indian batters with ducks in 1st Test innings
CT Sarwate: 1946
JK Irani: 1947
SA Banerjee: 1948
Ghulam Ahmed: 1948
SP Gupte: 1951
GS Ramchand: 1952
JM Patel: 1955
MS Hardikar: 1958
VM Muddiah: 1959
MM Sood: 1960
BS Chandrasekhar: 1964
UN Kulkarni: 1967
ED Solkar: 1969
GR Viswanath: 1969
DD Parsana: 1979
K Srikkanth: 1981
Maninder Singh: 1982
RGM Patel: 1988
V Razdan: 1989
A Kuruvilla: 1997
R Singh: 1999
DJ Gandhi: 1999
R Vijay Bharadwaj: 1999
A Ratra - 2002
PA Patel: 2002
WP Saha: 2010
R Ashwin: 2011
UT Yadav: 2011
Sai Sudharsan: 2025
Selection
Sudharsan was picked ahead of Easwaran
Notably, Sudharsan was picked in the Indian XI ahead of Abhimanyu Easwaran.
Easwaran, who led the India A team against England Lions, hammered two fifties in 4 outings, but failed to fit in.
The experienced First-Class star saw Sudharsan pip him for a place despite the latter owning a modest FC career.
Sudharsan scored 759 runs for Gujarat Titans and won the Orange Cap in IPL 2025.
His technique, temperament, consistency, and strokeplay make him an attractive prospect.
Twitter Post
317!
Test Cap number 3⃣1⃣7⃣
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 20, 2025
Congratulations to Sai Sudharsan, who is all set to make his Test Debut 🙌
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