Man, what a rough day for Sai Sudharsan. The 23-year-old, hyped as India’s next big thing, had a Test debut to forget in the first match of the Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy at Headingley. Handed his India Test Cap No. 317 by Cheteshwar Pujara, Sudharsan walked out to bat at No. 3, only to nick a Ben Stokes delivery to the keeper after just four balls. A duck on debut – ouch! He’s the first Indian debutant to bag a zero since Umesh Yadav and R Ashwin back in 2011.
India were cruising at 91/0, thanks to KL Rahul (42) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (42 not out), when Sudharsan came in. He dodged a bullet with a tight LBW call off Brydon Carse’s first ball, but looked shaky. Stokes, smelling blood, got him in the next over, with Jamie Smith pouching the edge. India hit lunch at 92/2, but Sudharsan’s early walk back stole the headlines.
Crazy thing? June 20 is a big date for Indian cricket – Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, and Virat Kohli all debuted on this day in ‘96 and ‘11. No such luck for Sudharsan, though. The guy who lit up IPL 2025 and was pegged as a red-ball rock for India got a brutal wake-up call in England’s swing-friendly conditions.
Here’s the rough club he’s joined – the last 10 Indian Test debutants who got a duck:
• Abey Kuruvilla (1997, West Indies)
• Robin Singh (1999, New Zealand)
• R Vijay Bhardwaj (1999, New Zealand)
• D J Gandhi (1999, New Zealand)
• Parthiv Patel (2002, England)
• Ajay Ratra (2002, West Indies)
• Wriddhiman Saha (2010, South Africa)
• R Ashwin (2011, West Indies)
• Umesh Yadav (2011, West Indies)
• Sai Sudharsan (2025, England)
