Sai Sudharsan smashed four sixes and 12 boundaries, in his unbeaten innings of 108, against Delhi Capitals. His strike rate was close to 180. However, the way he went about collecting his runs, it seemed as if Sudharsan was mostly playing risk-free cricket. That kind of percentage cricket is basically the crux of Sudharsan’s batsmanship.
How is Sudharsan able to blend a range of shots with low-risk batting? To capsulise the point, let’s zoom in on the first three deliveries that he faced from T Natarajan in the second over. One delivery was bowled down leg and the left-arm pacer offered some width on his next two offerings. Sudharsan took advantage of every one of those loose deliveries by adding three more boundaries to his tally.
Also Read “If you are a painter, playing for India is your dream canvas” – Sai Sudharsan on his India ambitions and the Gujarat Titans ‘family’
Elaborating on his template further, Sudharsan seems to maximise his strengths. If anything, over a period of time, Sudharsan has become better at optimising his game, which can be further evidenced by how he has gradually improved his strike rate from mid 120s in the 2022 IPL to low 140s during the next couple of seasons to 157 this year.
Even if you break it down to how he goes about tackling spin, you will notice that his methods are based on minimising the risks. Just consider the straight six he cracked off Kuldeep Yadav in the 18th over. Kuldeep tossed one up and bowled it too full, with the southpaw-batter duly taking advantage of it by smashing it into the downtown territories.
The larger picture to look at here is can Sudharsan find a berth in India’s squads for the longer formats of the game? With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli bidding adieu to Test cricket, Sudharsan could be one of the new faces making his debut during the England tour. He definitely has the required temperament and appetite for big runs.
Transport yourself back to last year’s Duleep Trophy where his valiant innings almost took India C to safety against India A. In that innings, he waited and waited for India A’s bowlers to either bowl too full or too short in order to bring out the pulls, dabs and drives.
At this point, one more question could flash in the mind. Is there any weakness in his game that can be exploited by the bowlers? A wrist spinner can try the googly. The critics might observe that on tracks with more bounce his cut stroke could come under scrutiny: He doesn’t always ride the bounce by going back and across. The counterargument to it is every single cricketer would have a weakness or two. And Sudharsan has the mental aptitude to overcome his problems.
For now, Sudharsan will have his eyes set on guiding GT to their second IPL title. One can envisage Sudharsan turning into a ruthless machine in the playoffs.