Former Australia captain Michael Clarke believes that India left-hand batter Sai Sudharsan is a 'superstar' and should bat at the number three spot in the Men in Blue's upcoming five-match Test assignment against England. The series is set to commence from June 20 and will also mark the beginning of a new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.
Sudharsan is yet to make his Test debut for India
Clarke also feels that Sudharsan will get to make his Test debut in the England series and will soon be opening the batting for India in both the ODI and T20I formats.
"To me, this kid is a superstar, Sai Sudharsan. I think he is a number three in Test cricket. I think he is probably going to open the batting in time in India's T20I and ODI team. He is in their Test squad. He gets his first opportunity in England," Clarke said on the Beyond23 Cricket podcast.
"I think he can walk in straight to bat at number three. I think technically he's very good, he's got all the shots and mentally, he's ready. He really impressed me and he's a good looking player as well," he added.
However, another India batter who has made a strong case to bat at the number three spot on the batting order is Karun Nair. The 33-year-old made a comeback to the Men in Blue's Test squad after eight long years on the back of a spectacular domestic season with Vidarbha.
The batter had a brilliant campaign in both the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Ranji Trophy, scoring several centuries while batting on the no.3 spot. On top of this, Nair recently scored a fabulous double-hundred for India A against the England Lions in the first unofficial Test. It will be interesting to see who gets to bat at the number three spot in India's batting order in the upcoming England tour.
Meanwhile, Sudharsan had a magnificent IPL 2025 campaign with the Gujarat Titans where he scored a total of 759 runs in 15 matches and played a major role in the franchise's qualification to the playoffs. He finished as the top-scorer of the tournament and thus, was handed the Orange Cap at the end of the season.