Washington Sundar promoted to no.3, Sai Sudharsan dropped in IND vs SA 1st Test; Sunil Gavaskar explains India's choice

Fans and experts were taken by surprise when Sai Sudharsan was dropped from the Indian playing XI against South Africa in the first Test at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Friday. With Sudarshan missing out, India fielded four spinners - Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, with three off them pure all-rounders.

Having made his Test debut in England in June, Sudharsan has been in an out of the Indian side, with his last Test coming against West Indies at home. In fact, he had also scored a 87 in the first innings of the second Test against the Caribbean.

With no Sudharsan, India have promoted Sundar to bat no.3, after openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul. Captain Shubman Gill will come at no.4. Sundar's maiden Test hundred on English soil earlier in the year also might have prompted the Indian management to promote him.

Notably, Sundar has never batted inside the top four in Tests. His only hundred in the longest format came while batting at no.5. To add to that, the left-hander had high scores of 85 not out and 96 not out while batting at seventh and eighth positions respectively.

While everyone kept their thinking hats on why Sundar is being elevated up the order, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar explained India's choice to put the Tamil Nadu all-rounder above Gill in the batting order. “Dhruv Jurel with his current form is undroppable,” Gavaskar said on air.

Washington Sundar, I think brings the left-hander angle. Sai Sudharsan at no.3 was a left hander. So in place of him, Washington Sundar will bat at no.3," explained Gavaskar.

Meanwhile, Gill once again lost the toss as his South African counterpart Temba Bavuma opted to bat first on a hard and dry surface in Kolkata. Both teams made some changes. While Kagiso Rabada missed out due to a rib injury, India have named Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel replacing Nitish Kumar Reddy and Sudharsan respectively.

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.