IND VS SA: Sai Sudharsan Receives His Debut Cap From KL Rahul Ahead Of The First ODI Against South Africa

Sai Sudharsan will make his ODI debut today against South Africa as he received his ODI cap from KL Rahul ahead of the toss at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. South Africa will play in pink jersey to create awareness for breast cancer. Sai Sudharsan was included in the ODI squad and he will play his first ODI today. He could either open the innings or bat at No.3 for India.

Sai Sudharsan, a 22-year-old young prodigy who bats left-handed came into the limelight after a stellar IPL season for Gujarat Titans in 2023. He scored a brilliant 96 against Chennai Super Kings in the finals of the IPL 2023. Hailing from Tamil Nadu, Sai Sudharsan is a left-handed batter who made his List-A debut in the 2021-22 season.

He has played 25 List-A games and has scored 1269 runs at an average of 60.42 with six centuries and four half-centuries to his name. Sai Sudharsan has played 13 IPL games for Gujarat Titans and has scored 507 runs at an average of 46.09 and a strike rate of 137.03 with four half-centuries to his name. Sudharsan represented India A in the ACC Men’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2023 where he scored 220 runs in five innings at an average of 73.33.

Sai Sudharsan scored a terrific hundred against Pakistan A in the Emerging Teams Asia Cup. India A reached the finals of the tournament but lost to Pakistan in the summit clash. Sai Sudharsan has a terrific record in domestic cricket and will hope to repeat the same in international cricket.

Sai Sudharsan Makes His Debut, Rinku Singh Benched For The First ODI

Talking About India’s playing XI against South Africa in the first ODI, KL Rahul handed the debut cap to Sai Sudharsan and then at the toss revealed the Playing XI where he was named at the top of the order with Ruturaj Gaikwad. Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma, and Sanju Samson will be handling the middle order today with Rinku Singh and Rajat Patidar on the bench.

Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav are the two spin-bowling options in today’s match with Yuzvendra Chahal missing out on the XI again. Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan and Mukesh Kumar are the three pacers for India in today’s match and Tilak Varma could be used as the sixth bowling option. Debutant Sai Sudharsan can also roll his arm over if required.

South Africa has won the toss in the game and has chosen to bat first. The Proteas are out wearing pink jerseys to show support for Breast Cancer Awareness. They have a terrific record in Pink Jersey winning nine out of their 11 games. India will however hope for a positive start and beat the Proteas at Wanderers.

India and South Africa will play two more ODIs after that in Gqeberha and Paarl respectively. The teams will then play two test matches where the big names Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will return. India would like to take revenge for the last away defeat against South Africa in 2021-22 when the Proteas defeated India 3-0 in the ODI series.