Ahead Of England Tests, Sai Sudharsan Credits County Cricket For Teaching Him The "Basics"

NDTV

a day ago

Couple of brief stints in county cricket convinced Sai Sudharsan that "basics" are the most important part of batting, giving him immense confidence ahead of his maiden Test tour of England. Sudharsan batted like a dream in the IPL, racking up 759 runs at an average of 54.21 for Gujarat Titans. With his team losing the Eliminator to Mumbai Indians on Friday night, his focus shifts to red-ball cricket. The left-hander, who played for Surrey over the past couple of seasons, was expected to play the second India A versus England clash in Northampton from June 6 but is not sure if that is a possibility. The Test squad will leave for the United Kingdom on June 6.
"I think I have played seven games in county cricket, so it gave me a great experience to be honest, it improved my batting multiple folds in terms of technique and in terms of basics to, it told me basics is the most important thing in batting.
"So, I think it should help me and I will focus more on what I learnt and I will try and be aware and create those awareness before going into the series," said Sudharsan in response to a PTI query.
He admitted that it would be tough to park the white ball habits right away but with the first Test scheduled for June 20, he has enough time to prepare for the English summer.
"Definitely, after a long three months of white-ball tournament, certain things would have changed in your batting. I think focusing more on basics and bringing back those to red ball cricket will take some time, we will have some good time before the series starts.
"In our mind, we were planning only to leave on the 4th from IPL, so we were not thinking about when to leave for India A or the Test team, but if that was the plan the Test team would have left on 6th, but now we will have to have a conversation and see how it goes," said the classy opener.
Still have a lot to improve as a T20 batter
Sudharsan turned heads with his silken strokeplay throughout the season in a format dominated by power hitters. His exemplary ability to find the gaps and rotate the strike helped him maintain a 150 plus strike rate. Shubman Gill and Sudharsan formed the best opening pairing of IPL 2025.
Asked whether he expects to be picked in the India T20 squad after a stellar IPL, he said: "I mean playing for the country is obviously a dream for everybody, so I would love to do that, but I am not thinking on those lines because if you see about the season, I have a lot of things to improve as a T20 batter.
"There are so many facets of the game or so many sectors I should improve when I play T20 again, so I am focusing more on that, of course, when I get an opportunity, I will give my best for the country," said the soft-spoken batter.
On his best season of IPL, Sudharsan said it would not make up for the disappointment of the team not going all the way.
"I mean it is good to see that I had a good season or I was consistent enough for my team, but I think when the job is not finished, you do not get that ultimate satisfaction when you get back to your home.
"Definitely, there is a lot of disappointment in the environment because the way we played the first 12 or 13 games, which was fantastic to see as a group or as a team from outside even when you look at a season like this."