Rohit Juglan and Amit Shah from Manchester
On the eve of the Manchester Test, Team India players were seen having intense indoor practice sessions as continuous rain in Manchester forced training indoors. However, a few players, including Arshdeep Singh and captain Shubman Gill, were also spotted doing fitness and fielding drills out on the field.
But it was Sai Sudharsan who caught everyone’s attention. The young southpaw batter was seen doing shadow practice from both ends of the ground, visualising bowlers and playing his shots accordingly. This is part of a pre-match routine he follows, as he prefers not to bat on matchday minus one if he is in contention to play. A similar routine was seen before the Headingley Test in Leeds, where he made his Test debut. Unfortunately, he hasn’t featured in the playing XI since then.
🚨Exclusive🚨
Sai Sudarshan is doing Shadow practice from both ends of the ground.
He was just visualizing the bowlers and playing shots accordingly.
Although he’s not playing the game but the dedication of the player is incredible as @amitshah22 reports @ThumsUpOfficial… pic.twitter.com/t3ksCoY3UY
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) July 22, 2025
Now, seeing him go through this routine again raises the question — is he going to play tomorrow? Interestingly, the wind was flowing from both the Pavilion End and the Anderson End, and it appeared he was trying to acclimatise his technique to the conditions. He wasn’t even wearing shoes during his routine. Sudharsan walked up to the pitch, which was under covers, performed some shadow practice to get a feel for the surface, and then ran a few laps around the ground. He later had a session with India’s strength and conditioning coach, Adrian Le Roux.
After Sudharsan was dropped, Karun Nair was given two chances at No. 3 but failed to capitalise on them. Now, in Manchester, the question remains: who will bat at No. 3? One thing is clear — despite not featuring in the last two matches, Sudharsan’s dedication and focus have been exceptional.
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