Highly-rated Indian batter Sai Sudharsan endured a nightmare start to his Test career, registering a four-ball duck on debut against England in the first Test of the Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy at Headingley. With this, he became the 30th Indian cricketer to be dismissed for zero in his maiden Test innings, joining the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Umesh Yadav in an unwanted list.
🏏 A Debut to Forget
Sudharsan, who was handed India Test Cap No. 317 by Cheteshwar Pujara, walked in at No. 3 after KL Rahul’s dismissal. Facing England skipper Ben Stokes, the 23-year-old left-hander was undone by a clever field setup that included a gully and leg slip. Stokes bowled on the pads, drawing a flick from Sudharsan that was edged to wicketkeeper Jamie Smith, ending his innings before lunch.
📉 First Indian Batter in 14 Years to Register Duck on Debut
The last Indian batter to suffer this fate was Wriddhiman Saha in 2010. While Ashwin and Umesh also recorded ducks on debut in 2011, they were not specialist batters. Sudharsan’s dismissal marks the first such instance in 14 years for a top-order Indian batter.
📜 Notable Names on the List
Other prominent Indian cricketers who scored ducks on Test debut include:
- C.T. Sarwate (1946)
- G.R. Viswanath (1969)
- Parthiv Patel (2002)
- Jasprit Bumrah (2018)
Despite the early setback, many on this list went on to have illustrious careers, offering hope that Sudharsan’s red-ball journey is far from defined by this one innings.
Stay tuned for live updates from the Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy.
