Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has opened up about who should replace Virat Kohli in the key fourth place in the upcoming England Test series. Ponting supported newly appointed skipper Shubman Gill in fourth place in Kohli’s post-retirement Test ahead of the five-match Test series.
India is scheduled to face the UK in the upcoming Test series, which will begin in Leeds on June 20th. With veterans Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin retired from the format, there are some fresh faces to the team. Shubman Gill leads the sides along with Rishabh Pants, who is named vice captain.
Sai Sudarshan and Yashasvi Jaiswal open batting – Ricky Ponting
I’ll talk ICC ReviewRicky Ponting said there is a high chance that Sai Sudarshan and Yashasvi Jaiswal will open in Britain’s India. India may prefer a third-school experienced batsman in order, with two young openers.
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“I think Sudarshan and (Yassvi) Jaiswar will open up batting (in the UK) as Sudarshan looks like a player of my class to me.
“They have two rather young opening batters, so maybe they’re aiming to go to someone with a bit more experience in No. 3,” says Ponting.
Schubman Gill could become that fourth player – Ricky Ponting
There is still uncertainty about the gill bats from Shubman in the lineup. He has played as an opener or third place in his previous 32 Test matches. However, Ponting said moving Shubmann’s gill to fourth place could ease the pressure of a new ball facing earlier.
“Whether it’s No. 3 KL (Rahul) or Karun (Nair), Shubman could be that No. 4 player.
“There’s no need to open or bat at No. 3 as a young captain. Their top five will likely be Sudarshan, Jaiswal, KL, Gill and Karun Naia for the start of the England series.”
Shubman Gill has yet to be hit in fourth in Test cricket in the final two World Test Championship cycles. Gill captained India’s captain only once in his five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe last year. He recently led the Gujarat Titans (GT) to third place in IPL 2025.
Will Sai Sudharsan make his Test debut at Team India?
Sai Sudharsan won the Orange cap and the outstanding IPL 2025 season. The left-handed batsman scored 759 runs in 15 games with an impressive average of 54.21 and 156.17, including the centres of the 1st and 6th century.
Sudharsan shows promise in a long form with 1,957 runs in 29 first class matches with an average of 39.93. He is one of three players selected in India’s upcoming five Test series against England.
Sudharsan’s Gujarat Titans worked well in IPL 2025, but their campaign ended with the Eliminator in defeat by the Mumbai Indians (MI).
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