Replacing Karun Nair in the XI, Sai Sudharsan returned to number 3 in Manchester and scored his maiden Test fifty, adding 61(151) to India's tally.
However, with India's back to the wall in the second innings, Sudharsan fell on a golden duck as he edged a short delivery outside the off stump from Chris Woakes.
With his duck in a trail of 311 runs, India were reduced to 0/2 in the first over of the second innings of the Test.
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As the southpaw failed to contribute with the series on the line, former India opener Aakash Chopra has voiced his concerns regarding the number 3 position for India.
Here's what he had to say.
Sai Sudharsan fails again at No. 3, Aakash Chopra flags India’s biggest batting concern
In the ongoing series, number 3 is the only position in the top-5 where an Indian has failed to score a century yet.
Sudharsan made his debut in Leeds and got 0 & 30 in the series opener, followed by a string of starts (31, 26, 40, 14) that Karun Nair failed to capitalize on.
After the Tamil Nadu batter fell for his second duck in four innings at 3, former India opener Aakash Chopra took it to his YouTube Channel [Aakash Chopra] to address the issue of India's quest for a new number 3.
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Chopra notably also named Abhimanyu Easwaran and Shreyas Iyer as potential candidates for the spot.
Interestingly, Easwaran has been travelling with India since the 2021 England series, where he was heavily reported to be getting his chance after Mayank Agarwal had a concussion.
However, in 2025, the Bengal batter is still waiting for his debut, despite averaging 48.70 for his 7841 FC runs in 103 matches.
"This has happened with him [Sai Sudharsan] before, when he was dismissed cheaply, Karun Nair failed to score big when he was given a chance either. Easwaran has not gotten his chance yet, and Shreyas Iyer could be a possibility later on," he said.
Chopra also pointed out that while KL Rahul and Shubman Gill have stepped up in the absence of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, the No. 3 spot remains unsettled.
"The number 3 used to be an important position — due to KL Rahul and Shubman Gill, we haven't missed Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the batting line-up. However, the problem of a number 3 batter is not sorted yet since Gill has moved to 4," he said.
Since Pujara's last Test in 2023, India has tried 6 players at number 3, including Gill, Sudharsan (91 runs in 4 innings) and Nair (111 runs in 4 innings).
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However, none of the batters except Gil have played more than 4 innings at the position — Gill has played 28 innings at 3 from 2023 to January 2025 and scored 966 runs at an average of 38.64.
The other players who have batted at 3 include the likes of Virat Kohli (70 runs in 2 innings), Devdutt Padikkal (25 runs in 2 innings) and KL Rahul (24 runs in 2 innings).