"It seems like he is made for Test cricket" - Aakash Chopra names Sai Sudharsan as potential replacement for Virat Kohli for first 2 IND vs ENG Tests

Aakash Chopra has named Sai Sudharsan as a potential replacement for Virat Kohli in the Indian squad for the first two Tests against England.

Rohit Sharma and company will face England in a five-Test series, with the first match starting in Hyderabad on Thursday, January 25. Kohli, who was named in India's squad for the first two games, has opted out of the Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam Tests for personal reasons.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra named Rajat Patidar, Devdutt Padikkal, Cheteshwar Pujara and Rinku Singh as some of the potential replacements for Kohli. He reckons Sudharsan could be another option, reasoning (6:30):

"The third left-hander that comes to my mind is Sai Sudharsan. It's a slightly out-of-the-box suggestion but it is not wrong. He scored runs in the IPL final but he is not a one-trick pony either."

"He scores runs in all three formats. Recently, he scored fifties in his first two ODI innings and scored 90-plus runs against the England Lions as well. He is consistently scoring runs and the clean way in which he plays, it seems like he is made for Test cricket," the former India opener added.

Sudharsan amassed 127 runs at an average of 63.50 in the three ODIs he played against South Africa last month. The Tamil Nadu left-hander has aggregated 989 runs, including a 97-run knock in India A's recent clash against the England Lions, at an average of 39.56 in 15 first-class games.

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"Sarfaraz's name should logically have come long back" - Aakash Chopra on whether Sarfaraz Khan could replace Virat Kohli

Sarfaraz Khan has amassed 3751 runs at an average of 68.20 in 44 first-class games. [P/C: Getty]

Aakash Chopra opined Sarfaraz Khan should have been considered for Test cricket long back, explaining (5:20):

"Sarfaraz's name should logically have come long back. We get so enamored with white-ball cricket that as soon as there is an opening in Tests, we give it to whoever is doing well in white-ball cricket. We did that with SKY (Suryakumar Yadav) against Australia."

The cricketer-turned-commentator observed the Mumbai batter's performances have been slightly on the wane since India's last home series against Australia. He said:

"It was probably Sarfaraz's turn then. It was wrong that his name didn't come that time but since then, the performances have been slightly 50-50, although he still has an average of nearly 70 in first-class cricket."

Chopra reckons Sarfaraz might have been slightly heartbroken and lost a little motivation after being repeatedly ignored. He concluded by questioning whether the 26-year-old shouldn't be picked if performances in first-class cricket need to be rewarded.