In a surprise move, the Indian team management has decided to retain Devdutt Padikkal, who was part of the India A team, as a backup for the senior team in Australia.
Padikkal was part of the India A squad that played two four-day matches against Australia A recently.
The decision comes in the wake of injury concerns for the visitors, with Shubman Gill likely to miss the Perth Test after fracturing his thumb, while captain Rohit Sharma could also miss the series opener.
The move to retain left-hander Padikkal was unexpected as he didn't enjoy a good run with the bat for India A in Australia with scores of 36, 88, 26 and 1.
Additionally,
"It is more to do with the familiarity with the Australian conditions as they have played here recently," a source told PTI.
Padikkal had made his Test debut earlier this year against England at Dharamsala and scored a half-century while batting at No. 4. He has scored 2677 in 40 first class games at an average of 42, with six centuries.
Sudharsan has played three ODIs against South Africa last year and one T20I against Zimbabwe in July this year.
