After India A, Back-in-form Sai Sudharsan gets vice-captaincy of Tamil Nadu for Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26

India’s 24-year-old Test batter Sai Sudharsan has been named vice-captain of Tamil Nadu squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26. Sudharsan will serve as wicketkeeper-batter Narayan Jagadeesan’s deputy in the 50-over white-ball domestic tournament. Jagadeesan has been part of the Test squad but is yet to make his debut.

Earlier, Sudharsan was named Rishabh Pant's deputy in India A side that took on South Africa A. He opened the innings in the first game and batted at no.3 when KL Rahul joined the side. The southpaw registered scores of 32, 12, 17 and 23 in two unofficial Tests.

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Sudharsan’s Test spot in question

Sudharsan has been under the scanner for his place in the Test side. He could not manage to score a half-century in the two-Test series against South Africa like most batters in the Indian batting lineup.

Sudharsan shrugs off poor form

Following the Test series, Sudharsan had a string of low scores in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025 before he scored his T20 career's third T20 century. He scored 64 runs against Jharkhand in an unsuccessful run chase, followed by an unbeaten 101 in the nervy run chase against Saurashtra.

Sudharsan’s next appearance

Tamil Nadu finished fourth in Group D with four losses from seven games. They failed to make it to the Super League stage. Sudharsan will be seen in action when Tamil Nadu go up against Puducherry in Group A clash on December 24 on Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26's opening day.

Sudharsan’s List A numbers -

Sudharsan made his ODI debut in 2023 against South Africa. From three games, he scored 127 runs, including two half-centuries.

From 28 List A games, he has scored 1,396 runs at an average of 60.69, including six centuries and six fifties.

Tamil Nadu’s squad for Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 -

Narayan Jagadeesan (c), Sai Sudharsan (vc), Baba Indrajith, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, C Andre Siddarth, M Boopathi Vaishna Kumar, Mohamed Ali, SR Athish, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Sachin Rathi, Gurjapneet Singh, CV Achyuth, G Govinth, R Sonu Yadav, Sunny Sandhu, VS Karthick Manikandan.