Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri has backed Sai Sudharsan’s selection for the five-match Test series against England. Shastri reckons Sudharsan’s experience of playing county cricket will come in handy in the upcoming tour. The southpaw scored 281 runs in five matches for Surrey with one century and one fifty.

Sudharsan has been in tremendous form in the ongoing IPL 2025 as he has scored 456 runs in nine matches at an average of 50.67 and a strike rate of 150 for Gujarat Titans. 

Meanwhile, the left-hander has scored 1957 runs in 29 first-class matches at an average of 39.93. Furthermore, the youngster has been a consistent performer for India A and he was also close to making his Test debut against Australia at Perth but Devdutt Padikkal was preferred ahead of him in the end.

“I see this young man, Sai Sudharsan, for all formats of the game. He seems like a class player and my eyes would be on him certainly. Being a left-hander in England, knowing English conditions, and just his technique, the way he plays, I think he’ll be top of the list for me from the outsiders wanting to get into this side,” Ravi Shastri said on the ICC Review.

On the other hand, the former Indian all-rounder wants Ajit Agakar-led selection panel to back a left-arm pacer in the squad. Shastri reckons either Khaleel Ahmed or Arshdeep Singh could be picked for England Tests.

“I’ll be looking for a left-armer. I’ll be keeping an eye on which left-armer is in good form, and try and squeeze him in there as the sixth (bowling) option.“It could be anyone. It could even be a white-ball specialist. I don’t like this thing when they say someone like Arshdeep Singh is a ‘white-ball specialist’,” Shastri said.

“You need a left-armer, go and find him, whoever it is and whoever is the best of the lot – pick them. There’s Khaleel Ahmed, who again, his rhythm is good, he’s bowling well. So it’s important to get that mix,” he added.

The opening Test match between England and India will be played at Leeds, Headingley from June 20 onwards.