Indian Sai Sudarsan celebrates his 50th birthday (AP Photo)
TimesofIndia.com in Mullanpur: On the eve of the one-off Test against Afghanistan, head coach Gautam Gambhir said that Sai Sudharsen will be given a “longer rope” and that the management has full confidence in him to succeed at the No. 1 position.
3. Sudharsan, who received two reprieves but missed his maiden Test hundred, scored 81 runs.The India No. 3 credited coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Shubman Gill for their unconditional support.
“I mean, it gives a lot of freedom,” Say told reporters when asked about the administration’s vote of confidence.“It gives a lot of certainty mentally when the coach, the team and the captain support you, support you and want you to do well for the team and win games.
So it’s an honor in the first place. It obviously gives you a lot of freedom to express yourself and do what you can do best instead of thinking about scoring goals or wondering if you’re going to play the next game. He added: “This kind of thought never occurs to you because you get so much freedom from the team.”Sai Sudharsan was equally graceful and enthusiastic during the engaging roles. He showed his strengths, as most of his 13 boundaries came through the mid-wicket region. Sudharsan also shared a 139-run partnership for the second wicket with KL Rahul.
The 24-year-old also spoke about his partnership with the veteran opener.“The conversation was about understanding what was happening, understanding how the wicket was behaving and who was playing. We weren’t thinking about taking a bigger role and batting deeper. It was more about understanding the conditions. KL gives a lot of calm when I bat with him, and gives a lot of certainty. He really helps as a batsman.”
“He reads the game well and shares a lot of useful ideas that we can use during the innings,” he said.The left-hander, who struggled with spin during the South Africa series, also spoke about the challenge and the mental and technical adjustments he had to make in preparation for this match, especially after playing IPL cricket for two-and-a-half months.“Mentally and tactically, for me, it was about belief and confidence in my abilities as a batsman. Tactically, we had a lot of conversations about what we can do to trouble the bowlers and what options we can make to keep the scoreboard moving, so that the pressure stays on them rather than just soaking it up and batting for time,” he said.
