For over two decades, barring the odd Test match, India’s number three spots were occupied and made impregnable by Rahul Dravid and Cheteshwar Pujara. The former occupied the number three spot regularly from November 1996 to January 2012, after which the latter took over and was the most consistent number one-drop until June 2023.
Here’s a look at the players who have batted at number three in the last two years:
The Indian Test captain was demoted from his regular opening spot to number three after the 2023 WTC final defeat. Since then, he batted 16 times in that number, scoring 972 runs at an average of 37.38 with three fifties and three hundreds and a best score of 119 not out. Following Virat Kohli’s Test retirement in May, he was brought down to the number four spot in the batting order.
The now-retired Virat Kohli may have carved a niche for himself at number four during his Test career, but in his final home series before calling it quits from the longest format, the right-hander batted at number three once against New Zealand at Bengaluru in 2024, where he made 0 and 70.
When Rohit Sharma was unavailable for the first Test against Australia at Perth in November last year, and KL Rahul was pushed up to open the innings, it created a spot in the playing XI, and Devdutt Padikkal was picked to play at number three. The southpaw made 0 and 25 in the two innings.
When Sharma returned to lead India from the second Test against Australia at Adelaide last year and decided to open the batting in the fourth Test at Melbourne, KL Rahul was pushed down to number three, and his returns were 24 and 0.
Sai Sudharsan made his India debut on the England tour in July and, since then, has batted in five Tests at number three, scoring 273 runs at an average of 30.33 with two fifties and a best score of 87. The left-hander was dropped from India’s playing XI for the Kolkata Test against South Africa.
After Sai Sudharsan had a tough debut against England at Leeds, Karun Nair was promoted to bat at number three in the second Test at Edgbaston. The batter returned with scores of 31 and 26. He was given a second chance in the following match at Lord’s, where he made 40 and 14. That proved to be the end of his experiment at that spot, as Sudharsan was recalled for the Old Trafford Test.
The left-hander was the latest batter to be tried at number three, in the first Test against South Africa at Kolkata. The southpaw returned with scores of 29 and 31 on a difficult batting surface.
With Shubman Gill ruled out of the second Test against South Africa in Guwahati, it poses an interesting situation for Gautam Gambhir and the management, regarding top-order batting. Sudharsan looks likely to come in for the injured skipper, but the bigger question that begs to be answered is: Does he come in at number four and alter the left-hand, right-hand combinations, or does he return to batting at number three, with Sundar moving down the order? India can also bring in Devdutt Padikkal over Sai Sudharsan and give him a chance at number three.
England have tried as many as nine batters at number three in Tests in the WTC cycle post 2023, the most among SENA countries. Ollie Pope has played the most matches at 20, followed by Jacob Bethell and Moeen Ali, who have played three matches apiece. Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Rehan Ahmed, Harry Brook, Mark Wood and Zak Crawley have played one Test each in that position.
South Africa have tried five batters at number three in the post-2023 WTC final cycle. Wiaan Mulder, who batted at three in the first Test at Kolkata, has played the most matches in that position with seven. Tristan Stubbs has played six Tests, Ryan Rickleton has played three while Raynard van Tonder and Tony de Zorzi have played two matches apiece.
New Zealand have tried four batters at number three since the 2023 WTC final. Kane Williamson has batted 11 times in that spot in the last couple of years, followed by Will Young, who occupied that spot in the three Tests against India in 2024. Henry Nicholls and Jacob Duffy have played one Test apiece.
Australia have had the greatest stability at number three in the last couple of years, with Marnus Labuschagne batting in 19 out of the 24 Tests that they have played in.
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