Sunil Gavaskar Reprimands Sai Sudharsan For Getting Out After Getting Starts In India vs South Africa ODI Series

Chennai-born batter Sai Sudharsan is nothing short of exceptional. The left-hand batter is immensely talented and has an elegant touch of class in him. It was because of his domestic performances that Sudharsan received the nod from head coach Rahul Dravid and was handed his first ODI cap during the 1st ODI against South Africa.

And for a fact, the 22-year-old did not fail to make an impression in his very first International match. While opening the innings with Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sudharsan scored an unbeaten half-century while chasing down an easy target of 117. In the 2nd ODI, the left-hander was at it once again.

He started pretty well despite Ruturaj leaving the crease in only the 2nd ball of the 1st innings. Sudharsan kept his composure spent considerable time in the middle and was able to score a 2nd consecutive half-century in only his 2nd International match. It was looking as if the 22-year-old was going to big in the first innings with the way he was playing.

Solid punches, straight drives, Pulls what not? However, in the 32nd over, Sudharsan while batting at 62, had to depart after a very smart over by Right-arm medium pacer Lizaad Williams. Sudharsan just nicked the ball to Heinrich Klaasen‘s gloves to cap off a mature inning that could have been converted to triple digits.

It will be fair to say that a Century is coming from his bat sooner or later and given the type of talent he has, Rahul Dravid and Co. will give him extra time to settle into International cricket.

“You Don’t Want To Be Getting Out In The 50s And 60s”, Sunil Gavaskar Opines on Sai Sudharsan

In a recent interview with Star Sports, the little master and 1983 World Cup winner Sunil Gavaskar stated that Sai Sudharsan should not be getting out on 50s or 60s instead he should convert them into 100s. Gavaskar also claimed that Sudharsan should make full use of the opportunity he has received to bat as an opener.

“You don’t want to be getting out in the 50s and 60s. When you bat up the order, you have the opportunity to score a 100 every time. So I think that is what he’s got to grab so that somebody will be talking only about who will partner Sai Sudharsan at the top.” – said Sunil Gavaskar.

The 74-year-old also spoke about Sudharsan’s exquisite technique and appreciated the batter’s balance and head positioning. “A very compact player plays close to his body and has got a good very still head. So balance is very good when he’s playing. And, of course, when he plays drives like that. Left-handers can be so elegant when they play, they can play the pull shot as well.”

A fun fact is that Sai Sudharsan is only the 2nd Indian Batter to score successive 50s in the first 2 ODIs with Navjot Singh Sidhu being the first. Sidhu had scored 4 back-to-back 50s in his first 4 ODI matches in 1987, twice against Australia and once each against New Zealand and Zimbabwe.