Former player turned commentator Aakash Chopra has picked Sai Sudharsan as Yashasvi Jaiswal’s potential future opening partner in the longer format. He also added that Shubman Gill is unlikely to move back to the top of the order and will likely replace Virat Kohli at No. 4 once he calls it quits as well.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra’, he said, “One player who comes to my mind and for whom all of us should be ready, he is the future of Indian batting, he is Sai Sudharsan. Yashasvi Jaiswal is there. Shubman Gill, who will eventually go to No. 4, is there, and after that, Rishabh Pant is there. So these are your three pillars. KL Rahul is there with you for some time.”

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“Of course, he is the most senior among all of them and is playing as an opener. So you can keep him along with you. However, eventually when KL Rahul goes, an opener’s place will become vacant. I see Shubman settling down as No. 4. I see his career progressing at No. 4 as soon as Virat Kohli says goodbye. So I am thinking about Sai Sudharsan,” Chopra further added.

However, Aakash Chopra also added that Sai Sudharsan has done well in limited opportunities for India. While saying that IPL performances
shouldn’t be considered, he further added that the Gujarat Titans (GT) batter is technically very compact and praised him as well.

“Considering his playing style and temperament, I genuinely feel he has a great future ahead of him because whenever you have given him a chance on the big stage, it looks like he belongs to this space. Even when it was the IPL final, he played easily. When you took him to South Africa, there also he played easily. Of course, he has played more white-ball cricket thus far, but we have witnessed Sai Sudharsan’s talent, and he is very young. He is only 23 years old. So I will definitely play a punt on the 23-year-old Sai Sudharsan because he is one for the long haul according to me,” Aakash Chopra concluded.