'Want to play...': Sai Sudharsan reveals his preferred batting spot after getting picked in India's squad for England series

Head of the selection committee Ajit Agarkar announced India's 18-member squad for the upcoming five-match series against England on Saturday. Some massive changes were made to the squad including Shubman Gill getting named as India's new Test skipper and Rishabh Pant being named his deputy.

Sai Sudharsan was handed his maiden Test call-up

Maiden Test call-ups were handed to Sai Sudharsan and Arshdeep Singh while notable players like Mohammed Shami and Sarfaraz Khan were both not included in the squad for the Men in Blue's Test assignment against the Three Lions.

Sudharsan, who has been tearing it up with the bat for the Gujarat Titans (GT) in IPL 2025, is likely to make his Test debut for India in the upcoming series. He has played just thee ODIs and a T20I so far for the national team.

After getting picked for the England series, the 23-year-old stated that he currently isn't in a position where he can choose the position he wants to play at. The left-hand batter added that he will be open to play wherever the coaches will tell him to.

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“I have many likes. But I don’t think I am in a position to choose where I want to play. Wherever the coaches tell me to play, I think I will be mentally and obviously skilfully, you know, try and be ready for the opportunity," Sudharsan was quoted as saying by PTI.

Sudharsan has formed an incredible opening pair with GT skipper Shubman Gill and both have lit up IPL 2025. While the former is the current Orange Cap holder with 638 runs under his belt, the latter is right behind him with 636 runs.

“I have been a part of his growth (Gill’s) as well. I have seen him for the last four years. Such a talented batsman, such a skilful batsman, anybody can see. He will definitely bring laurels and do great things for the country. I am very happy to play under him in my first Test series," Sudharsan added.

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The left-hander has experience in County cricket as well. He featured for Surrey and scored a total of 281 runs over two seasons in the County Championship. This experience can come in handy for Sudharsan as he does have an idea of the English conditions.

India squad for England Tests: Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, K L Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh and Kuldeep Yadav.