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Former West Indies cricketer Ian Bishop admits a major selection headache for Team India regarding their opening combination for the 2026 T20 World Cup, especially now with Sai Sudharsan also throwing his hat into the ring. The Men in Blue have tested out various combinations in the top order since Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma retired from the format after the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhishek Sharma, and Shubma Gill got a decent run of games under Suryakumar Yadav's reign as captain. However, the pool was widened after Sanju Samson also made the most of a promotion up the order. If those options were not enough, Sai Sudharsan has made a massive statement with a prolific 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign.
The Gujarat Titans (GT) batter has scored 456 runs in nine innings at an average of 50.66, and a strike rate of 150. Paired with Shubman Gill up the order, the left-handed batter is at his consistent best, recording five fifties already.
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Ian Bishop admitted that despite Sai Sudharsan's rich vein of form, he might still be behind Abhishek Sharma in the pecking order, given his recent success with Team India.
"I think Abhishek Sharma has been given a run in recent T20Is, and has flexed enough to say, despite current form, he was given that run with Tilak Varma and all those guys in South Africa. So, I would say unless he is making five ducks in a row, I would put him ahead of the queue," Bishop said on ESPN Cricinfo.
Abhishek Sharma came into the IPL in stunning form, but has had a mediocre campaign. Apart from his stunning century in the record run chase against the Punjab Kings (PBKS), he has not had much to show for.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) opener has scored 240 runs in nine innings at an average of 26.66 and a strike rate of 180.45.
"It is a problem of plenty rather than a problem of famine" - Ian Bishop on Team India being spoilt for choices in the opening department
Team India have a wide range of opening batters to choose from, and Sai Sudharsan stands out from the rest. The GT batter largely plays traditional strokes, and is known for pacing his innings, rather than going all out from the word go.
He scored a 30-ball 39 in GT's recent loss to the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
"Imagine giving Sai Sudharsan a role, where he does not have to play the GT role, the responsibility. Imagine what it would be like if you say, 'Sai, just go out, don't fear failure, take it up another gear, don't give us this responsible role,'" Bishop questioned
"That is a great problem to have. It is a problem of plenty rather than a problem of famine," he concluded.
Sai Sudharsan has never been heavily considered for Team India's T20I side. He made his ODI debut during the tour of South Africa in 2023, and was also close to making it to the Test side in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar series as Shubman Gill's replacement for the first Test. But Devdutt Padikkal made the cut instead.
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