Virat Kohli's unavailability for the first two home Tests against England potentially opens the door for one consistent domestic performer in recent times. Here are the contenders.
The Ranji Trophy winner with Madhya Pradesh bats predominantly at No. 4. He's coming off an impressive backs-to-the-wall 151 in the first unofficial Test for India A against England Lions in Ahmedabad late last week. Prior to that, he hit 111 in a two-day warm-up fixture against the same opponents.
The 30-year-old has formidable numbers: 4000 runs in first-class cricket at an average of 45.97, with 12 hundreds. He first hit the high notes during MP's victorious run in 2021-22, when he was the second-highest run-getter with 658 runs in nine innings at an average of 82.25. This included a match-winning hundred in the final against Mumbai.
Patidar nearly spent nine months on the fringes with a heel injury that required surgery. In December, he made his ODI debut on the tour of South Africa, where he also played the red-ball games for India A.
Pujara continues to grind his way through the domestic season. On Sunday, he became only the fourth Indian to notch up 20,000 first-class runs, during the third round of the Ranji Trophy.
He opened the season with an unbeaten 243 against Jharkhand, his eighth double-ton in the competition, and has followed that up with scores of 49, 43, 43 and 66. Pujara's experience of 103 Tests, the last of which was the WTC final against Australia last June, and current form could work to his advantage.
The punchy Sarfaraz predominantly bats at No. 5 for Mumbai and has been a consistent performance over the last four seasons. However, his patchy form for India A has somewhat put him behind in the queue. All said, no batter in the world who has aggregated 2000 or more first-class runs since 2020 averages more than Sarfaraz's 82.46
While questions have been raised about his ability to handle short-pitched bowling time and again, Sarfaraz is an excellent player of spin and could be a key point of difference in the middle order on tracks that are expected to turn.
His overall first-class average of 68.20 across 65 innings, with 13 hundreds and 11 fifties, still looks formidable. He hit 96 against England Lions in the two-day warm-up fixture two weeks ago. Last week, he managed a half-century in the second innings of the first unofficial Test to help India A secure a dry in a massive 490 chase.
No player in recent times has seen his stocks rise as quickly as Sai Sudharsan has. The Tamil Nadu top-order batter is a stylish left-hander, who looks easy on the eye. His technique has come in for plaudits from several pundits and the team management. He started his ODI career with two back-to-back half-centuries in South Africa last month. He's been part of the red-ball mix for India A over the past six months, on the back of a decent 2022-23 Ranji season where he struck 572 runs in 12 innings at 47.66. He made 97 in his most recent first-class outing for India A against England Lions last week.