ENG vs IND 2025: Bring back Sai Sudharsan over Karun Nair against England's weakest bowling attack, says Manjrekar

The start of the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 saw the visiting team, India, enter the field with both Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair in the Playing XI for the first Test. However, following a low scoring performance in both the innings, Sudharsan was dropped, and Nair, who first batted at No. 6, was promoted to bat in the departing batter's place at No. 3. 

The move, however, hasn't worked at all, as Nair has seen a drop in form, with not even a fifty-plus score in six innings played so far. Former cricketer and India batter, Sanjay Manjrekar, felt that India should have never gone with Nair to bat at the top of the order. With a dip in the Karnataka batter's form, Manjrekar has opined to have Sudharsan back and bat at the top, as he had shown promise with his 30 runs in the Headingley encounter.

“Sai Sudharsan was always my no. 3 after the first test match, there was promise shown with 30 runs. And when you have flat pitches and one of England's weakest bowling attack, you want to play a young player so Karun Nair at no. 3 three I didn't agree with maybe the team management might just want to prove a point that we were backing the right horse and give him one more match that's something happen with team management, but I would like to see Sai Sudharsan at no. 3,” Manjrekar told via ESPNcricinfo.

India marred with injuries

The Shubman Gill-led side, which is currently 1-2 in the series after three games, is facing multiple setbacks. Young all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has been ruled out of the remainder of the series due to an injury. In addition to this, left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, who is yet to make his Test debut, has also been declared unfit to play the fourth game, which starts July 23 in Manchester.

The tourists have called up Anshul Kamboj for the rest of the tour On the other hand, wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is good to go, but not fit enough to keep the wickets, following a finger injury in the Lord's tie. As a result, it is going to be a big headache for captain Shubman Gill to pick his best men for the upcoming games with the series now on the line.