With India not short on options for the opening slot, Sai Sudharsan knows he not only has to consistently score, but he will have to score every time he gets to play, regardless of the colour of the ball or jersey. He will have to break down that door to make the Indian dressing room his own.
TimesofIndia.com caught up with the 23-year-old southpaw, who explained how he has worked on his T20 game and how he resisted the temptation to get carried away and tweak his basics. Besides, he also shared his dream of playing Test cricket and why the five-match Test series is on his mind.
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Excerpts:
How do you manage to hold your shape while hitting big shots?
I think I’ve worked on a lot of technical aspects of the game. It isn’t an easy thing to do. I feel that because I’ve worked a lot on not losing my shape and not losing my natural playing style, while at the same time, trying to meet the demands of T20 cricket.
Could you elaborate on those technical aspects and how they improve your strike rate?
I feel it’s about the right planning and how you target the bowlers you’re comfortable with. It’s more about the mindset of what you want to do against a specific bowling setup and a particular bowler to maximise your efficiency.
Were you ever tempted to change your game?
Yes, definitely. But I was aware that I shouldn’t be changing my basics at any point. Instead, I should make certain small fine-tunings and adjustments to fulfill the requirements of the evolving game. We all have to evolve with it. I’ve made a few fine-tunings, not to change the basics, but to make small adjustments throughout the journey.
With Jos Buttler around, the management has still shown a lot of confidence in you?
To be honest, when I first heard that I was opening, I was really happy. And I also gained a bit more confidence from them giving me that responsibility, especially when we have an explosive opener like Jos Buttler. It gave me a lot of confidence and freedom, knowing that we have a lot of batting depth and experienced batters coming after me. So, I feel that has given me more freedom to express myself.
What kind of bond do you share with your opening partner Shubman Gill?
My bond with Shubman is really good. It’s getting stronger every day, and I’m learning a lot from him in terms of batting, game awareness, and the conversations we have during practice and on the field. I think he has taught me a lot, and I’m continuously trying to improve along those lines.
As an opener, how do you break down the powerplay?
I feel it’s all about the situation, the conditions, and how the wicket is behaving. If the wicket is really good, yes, we’ll have to start taking on the bowlers right away. But if the wicket isn’t, if the conditions aren’t suitable, we’ll have to bide our time and take the game deep.
With India not short on options for the opening slot, how do you see this competition?
As you rightly mentioned, there are top-quality batters in India, especially openers. I feel I’m trying to improve in every possible area of my game. I keep trying to improve and become a better batter. I feel whenever I get an opportunity, I’ll try to be equipped for that and do my best for the country.
How valuable was that A tour in Australia? What were the key learnings?
The exposure we get when we play outside India is invaluable because we have a maximum of 5-7 days to adjust and try to score runs. So, I feel the adaptability aspect, in terms of how the wicket is behaving and how the conditions are, is improving. When you bring that to India, going from Chennai to play in Delhi or other parts of the country, I feel the adaptability we learned there helps us a lot here.
There’s the A tour (to England) followed by a five-match Test series. Do you see yourself in that team?
Obviously, the dream is to play Test cricket. I think you have to dream really big to achieve what you want to achieve. Right now, I’m taking baby steps and thinking about the IPL, but why not? Definitely, I would love to equip myself to play in those conditions and do my best for the country.
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