Key Points

Sudharsan, who has already made three ODI appearances with 127 runs and two fifties and a T20I appearance for India, will be looking forward to making his Test debut for India during the five-Test England tour starting from June 20, which will kickstart not only India's ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 cycle, but also a new era under captaincy of Shubman Gill following retirements of legends Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

Sudharsan has played 29 first-class games so far, with 1,957 runs in 49 innings at an average of 39.93 with seven centuries and five fifties. His best individual score is 213. While these numbers are not the best on domestic scene, his talent and potential was on full display during the recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL), where he walked away with the Orange Cap for most runs and 'Emerging Player of the Season' award, scoring a massive 759 runs in 15 matches at an average of 54.21, strike rate of above 156, a century and six fifties.

His ability to shift gears and bat according to situation was evident in Gujarat Titans' run till the eliminator against Mumbai Indians (MI), where he played a fighting knock during a tightly-contested match.

However, when Surrey first picked Sudharsan in 2023, he had played less than 10 first-class games and was yet to make his international debut. However, he made up for his lack of experience with detailed and brilliant preparation. Stewart, who was once England's most capped Test player with 8.463 runs and 15 centuries in 133 Tests, was left impressed with Sai's commitment to the game.

Before his first game for Surrey against Northamptonshire back in September 2023, Sudharsan played for the team's second XI at Guildford, to acquaint himself with English conditions and Dukes ball better.

Stewart recalled that Sudharsan came in as an unknown, with GT Director of Cricket and ex-England player Vikram Solanki playing a big role in recommending him.

"Sai came as an unknown, and his experience of the English game was very limited. Vikram Solanki was massive in recommending him to me, and I have so much respect for Vikram. From his first training session, you could see that he was a special talent, and he has not looked back. He loves to bat - whether in the nets or the middle - and just fitted into our set-up perfectly," said Stewart as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

Stewart also feels that Sudharsan's soft hands and range os strokes will help him thrive in English conditions, noting that his ability to play the ball late is extremely important in English conditions.

"If you go too hard and get too far out in front of yourself, when the ball seams, you are not in control, then your bat can get outside of your eyeline, whereas he plays it under his eyeline, plays it under his eyes, and plays it late. And even if he does nick it a little bit, like Kane Williamson, for example - you can nick it, but it still falls short of slip and that again is a real attribute of Sai's," he said.

"The pitches are quicker here, certainly at The Oval, and to succeed, you have to be able to play off the back foot. You have got to be selective to pull, hook, cut or let go. He gets out of the line of the short ball well but can also play the uppercut over the slips. He has got a full array of shots, and he gets them in the right order," he added.

Dukes ball, which swings way more than Kookaburra balls used in Australia and SG balls used in India, has been put to good use by Sudharsan, who took some of them back home after his county stint, as revealed by Sudharsan.

"I did not charge him for them and just let him have them. But, no... he had that forward-thinking mindset and trained with those balls, so that when he comes back to us, or hopefully is picked for India on tour, he will have had nice practice against the Dukes cricket ball as well," said the former England wicketkeeper-batter.

"Some of those will probably be worn out by now because I gave them to him last year, but he is a quick learner and he practises with a purpose. Yes, he likes volume, but he also likes to improve," he added.

Watching videos of Virat Kohli shown to him by his mother, Sudharsan is a front-runner to be a part of India's top-order after the icon's retirement from whites.

Stewart advised Sudharsan that he should not think about being the 'next Virat' since he is irreplacable, but think of being the "best version of Sai Sudharsan".

"Then India has got yet another high-quality cricketer," he concluded.

The five-test tour of England, starting June 20 at Leeds and lasting until August 2025, is set to be a heavy one for fans and players alike. With senior stars Rohit and Virat having retired from the longest format of the game, the onus lies on the Shubman Gill-led new-look Indian side to prove themselves away from home in tough English conditions and ensure that Indian cricket is safe.

The series will be held from June to August 2025, with matches scheduled at Headingley in Leeds, Edgbaston in Birmingham, Lord's and The Oval in London, and Old Trafford in Manchester.

India's Test squad for England series: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL 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, Kuldeep Yadav.

- ANI