Former Indian opening batter and commentator Aakash Chopra has asserted that Sai Sudharsan needs to wait for his chances in the playing XI after Devdutt Padikkal scored his second Test century in three innings.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Chopra revealed that Padikkal has already scored more runs than Sudharsan has made in seven Tests. Notably, the No.3 batter smacked a 117-run knock on Day 1 of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo.
“Devdutt Padikkal has come as a devdoot. He is Devmanus. How well he is batting! So, I love him to bits. DDP is an outstanding cricketer. DDP is an absolutely gun player. He has played four matches in total, and he has already run ahead of what Sai Sudharsan had scored in seven matches while playing 12 innings,” Chopra said.
“He has already scored two back-to-back centuries. He got out to an off-spinner here for sure, but he was in great touch. It’s now confirmed that Sai will have to sit out once he comes. There won’t be a place for Sai straightaway,” he added.
It’s important to note that Padikkal has racked up 418 runs at an average of 69.67 in six Test innings. Meanwhile, Sudharsan has accumulated 383 runs at an average of 31.91 in 12 Test innings.
“Devdutt Padikkal has shown that a modern-day batter can be ready for day-night cricket and play T20 as a rockstar. He is that kind of a guy. He is brilliant. What he did for RCB and the way he batted- he stitched many partnerships with Kohli, where he was outplaying and outsmashing Virat Kohli,” he noted.
Furthermore, Chopra reckoned that Padikkal outsmarted Virat Kohli in the recently concluded IPL 2026 season for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) franchise.
“If Kohli was going at a strike rate of 125, he was running at 200. He was making everybody’s job so much easier. When he comes to play Tests, he plays like Tests. He got lives this time, slightly difficult chances, but they were dropped, and he went on to score a century, and his 117 runs were most important in India’s score of 300/5,” Chopra concluded.
