"Doesn't feel right" - Former batter questions India's decision to drop youngster for ENG vs IND 2025 2nd Test

Former cricketer Subramaniam Badrinath seemed unimpressed by India's decision to drop top-order batter Sai Sudharsan for the ongoing second Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England. The match kicked off at Edgbaston, Birmingham, on Wednesday, July 2.

Sudharsan made his Test debut in the opening encounter of the series. Batting at No. 3, he registered scores of 0 and 30. The visitors suffered a five-wicket defeat in the contest, with England chasing down the 371-run target in the fourth innings.

Baridnath opined that benching Sudharsan, who is in the middle of a purple patch, was the wrong move. The youngster was the Orange Cap winner of the 2025 Indian Premier League, chalking up 759 runs across 15 innings.

The cricketer-turned-commentator wrote on X:

"Sai scored a crucial 30 and was involved in an important partnership in the second innings. dropping an youngster high on confidence doesn’t feel right."

While Sudharsan bagged a four-ball duck in India's first innings, he got off to a decent start in the subsequent essay. He stitched together a crucial 66-run partnership for the second wicket with KL Rahul.

Shubman Gill and Co. made three changes to their playing XI for the second Test. Sudharsan, Jasprit Bumrah (rested) and Shardul Thakur made way for Nitish Kumar Reddy, Akash Deep and Washington Sundar.

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Karun Nair batted at No. 3 for India in Sai Sudharsan's absence on Day 1 of ENG vs IND 2025 2nd Test

Ben Stokes won the toss for England and chose to field first at Edgbaston. With Sai Sudharsan not part of the side, the Indian think tank Karun Nair was promoted to the No. 3 spot in the first innings.

Karun returned to the Test team after a gap of eight years. However, he failed to make a significant impact in his comeback match, recording scores of 0 and 20.

He batted at No. 6 in the opening encounter. He looked in impressive form in the second Test, scoring 31 runs off 50 deliveries. The right-handed batter failed to convert the start into a big score, getting out off speedster Brydon Carse's bowling at the stroke of Lunch.

At the time of writing, India are 188/3 after 56 overs. Shubman Gill (46* off 123) and Rishabh Pant (16* off 32) are at the crease, while opener Yashasvi Jaiswal departed after a stunning 87-run knock in 107 balls.