Shamik Chakrabarty at Eden Gardens
Moeen Ali floated one outside off and Shubman Gill charged down the track, played across the line and sent the delivery 10 rows back over the deep mid-wicket fence. Power was followed by the lightness of touch; a late cut for a four. Then, the Gujarat Titans captain used his wrists like a ball bearing. A sweep from outside off sent another Moeen delivery to the long-on boundary. It was sublime batting from a class act.
At the other end, there was Sai Sudharsan, not quite as elegant as his skipper and still a level below Gill in terms of batsmanship. The latter gets that wee bit more time to play his shots. But Sai is very compact and efficient; something that India might need in their tour to Blighty a couple of months down the line. It’s a bit weird, for red-ball cricket is a completely different proposition. But even through his T20 exploits, the 23-year-old from Chennai looks every bit a Test cricketer.
The hallmark of his batting has been the way he picks length early. Sample this — Sunil Narine landed one short-of-a-length. Mind, it wasn’t short. Far from it. But Sai stayed back and pummelled it to the deep square-leg boundary. A cover drive off Harshit Rana oozed class, the way the southpaw leaned into the delivery and caressed it to the fence.
Now, here is a bigger picture. The selectors might be closely watching him, with an eye on England where India will play a five-Test series starting in June. The team needs a third opener and Sai ticks that box. He bats at No. 3 for Tamil Nadu in Ranji Trophy and is used to facing the new ball.
Abhimanyu Easwaran was India’s reserve opener in the Test series in Australia. But the team didn’t seem to have faith in him, as KL Rahul was asked to open in Rohit Sharma’s absence. Once again, Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal are expected to be India’s first-choice opening pair in England.
Gujarat Titans posted 198/3 after 20 overs against Kolkata Knight Riders here at the Eden Gardens.
📸 @debasissen #KKRvsGT pic.twitter.com/1X8U1y46uV— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) April 21, 2025
On Monday, the BCCI announced the annual player contracts for the 2024-25 season and retained Rohit in the A+ category, probably dropping a clear enough hint that the 37-year-old (he will turn 38 on April 30) will not be stripped of his captaincy in red-ball cricket. But given his current form in the longer format, picking a quality back-up opener should be on the selectors’ mind. Both Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sai are expected to be part of the India A side that would be touring England before the Test series. The former, though, has been nursing an elbow injury which prematurely ended his participation in this year’s IPL. Sai has been knocking on the door.
Players being picked for Tests based on their IPL performances is nothing new in Indian cricket. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rana have been the latest beneficiaries. Before that, in 2023, Ajinkya Rahane’s form in the T20 league had prompted the then selection committee to pick him for the World Test Championship final.
Sai is the current top-scorer in the ongoing edition of the tournament. A 36-ball 52 against Kolkata Knight Riders took his tally to 417 from eight innings at an average of 52.12. But he is not a one-trick pony, boasting a first-class average of 55.06 over 29 games.
Does he have the technique to be successful in Test cricket? “On the technical side of things, Sai Sudharsan looks reasonably well organised, but a couple of things can be better,” former India batsman WV Raman, who also served as the head coach of the Indian women’s team, wrote in a recent blog.
“As an opener, looking to play in all three formats, he needs to improve his front foot play against the quicks. He is relaxed in his stance and that facilitates mobility, but a little bit of stability is needed in order to play shots off the front foot. This can be achieved if his stance is widened a wee bit, and the arms go more towards the keeper while lifting his bat. He is apparently working on it and should be able to sort it out sooner rather than later.”
At India’s most storied cricket venue, in a different format, Sai showed his all-round mettle on a pitch where the ball wasn’t quite coming onto the bat.
Also Read KKR vs GT: Sai Sudharsan Inches Closer to ‘Team India’ Dream, Shows Surreal Consistency in IPL 2025