CHENNAI: It has been more than a hundred hours since Royal Challengers Bengaluru won their second Indian Premier League title. While RCB fans continue to feel the joy, Indian cricket has quietly moved on. The white balls and big sixes are shelved with the Test regulars turning towards their cream clothing and red cherry for the weekend.
With India set to take the field against Afghanistan in a one-off Test on Saturday, there seems to be a fair bit to unpack despite it not being a part of the World Test Championship. These are truly testing times for India in red-ball cricket. The last time they were on the field for a Test, it ended in a hammering with India losing the Test series 0-2 to South Africa.
Before their next WTC assignment, which is in Sri Lanka come August, head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill would want to use this one off Test as a chance to find some answers. Perhaps, the biggest of them all — who is India's No 3? Once a traditional spot that was held dearly and passed on from Rahul Dravid to Cheteshwar Pujara, the spot is not the same anymore. India, since Pujara's last Test, have tried out seven players in 28 games. Gill seemed to own the place, but soon after being named captain he moved to No 4. Since then, India have tried three players, none more than B Sai Sudharsan (six games), at the spot.
Now, as they gear up for the one-off Test, there seems to be another name in the mix — Devdutt Padikkal. With just two Tests in his career — he batted at No 4 on debut when Virat Kohli was missing and No 3 in Perth when Gill was injured — if the Karnataka captain plays the Test, it is likely to be No 3. Since Padikkal's last Test — he was ruled out of the England tour due to hamstring injury picked up in IPL 2025 — Sai Sudharsan was handed his cap and has been India's No 3 in six matches.
However, his record of 302 runs at 27.45 average with two fifties has been sub-par. And soon, Gambhir, who has been trying to use Washington more with the bat, promoted the off-spinning all-rounder to No 3 in the first Test against South Africa. When that did not work and India lost the match, Gambhir brought back Sai Sudharsan, but he failed to make the most of it as India lost the two-match series. Now, with another Test around the corner, will Sai Sudharsan continue remains a big question.
Padikkal, on the other hand, made his comeback in the domestic circuit, leading Karnataka to the Ranji Trophy final batting at No 3. In six matches, he amassed 543 runs at 60.33 average, including a high score of 232 in the semifinal. The left-hander's ability to take down spinners is also a crucial factor. Not too long ago, Padikkal got his first Test call-up after a stellar show against Tamil Nadu spinners for the England series which featured Tom Hartley. Now, will he get to play ahead of incumbent Sai Sudharsan? Or will the musical chair continue?
When such questions were put forth in front of assistant coach Ryan ten Doeshate, the Dutchman acknowledged the problem and said that they have to pick someone and give them a longer rope. "There's been a lot of changes in that spot and that's not ideal. I think you need to look at the incumbents for that role and maybe stick with someone. It's a difficult position to bat and a very important position to bat," Ten Doeschate told reporters in New Chandigarh on Thursday.
"Dev comes in with a ton of runs in domestic cricket across all the formats. Obviously, Sai has had a nice T20 IPL with Gujarat. They are both in good form. I think whoever plays, they will be given a bit of rope. It's quite difficult with one Test now and then we don't play a Test for another two months and then you play two Tests and you don't play for a while. We need to factor that in. I think the main point is we want to make a decision and then trust that person to grow into the role. Ideally quickly because where we find ourselves in the WTC table, obviously, we don't have time to bet now. Something we could have done better leading up to this is nailing down that number three spot," he added.
It is often said that the first step towards solving the problem is acknowledging that there is one. The Indian team management seems to be aware of it. Now, it is time for them to take the next step and give their picked No 3 a longer rope.