Sai Sudharsan on Thursday answered his critics and once again kept his case for the number three position in India’s test team after scoring a solid hundred for India A against Sri Lanka A in the ongoing unofficial test at the Galle International Stadium.ย
Sudharsan opened the innings for India A alongside Ayush Pandey after the team won the toss and elected to bat first on a surface that looked good for batting. Sudharsan scored 132 off 175 balls at a strike rate of 74.43. His innings included 19 fours.ย
His innings helped India A score over 200 runs in just 50 overs. Notably, all the other batsmen struggled and Sudharsan was the only batter who scored over 50 runs in India A’s first innings by the time this story was filed.ย
Ayush Pandey scored a 64-ball 25, Devdutt Padikkal seven-ball 12 and Ruturaj Gaikwad a 53-ball 22. Wicketkeeper batter Dhruv Jurel, who is leading the side, was batting on 12 off 21 balls.ย
This was Sudharsan’s ninth hundred in first class matches. His best score in first class is 213, which he scored against Delhi in a Ranji Trophy game.
With this solid hundred, Sudharsan has answered his critics, who were questioning his place in the test team. In the previous test against Afghanistan, the Tamil Nadu batter had scored 81 runs. Till now, he has scored 383 runs in 12 innings in seven games at an average of 31.92 and a strike rate of 43.33. This includes three half-centuries. His best remains a 165-ball 87, which came against West Indies at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi in October last year.
Sudharsan has often on the radar of critics for his below-par record in the seven tests he has played. However, he has received head the team management’s support, which has said that the batter is just 23-year-old and can’t be judged after every game.
Sudharsan has also thanked the team management for the constant support he has received. “It gives so much certainty mentally that when the coach, the team and the captain support you, back you, and want you to do well for the countryโฆ it is such an honour in the first place,” he said after his 81-run knock against Afghanistan.
ALSO READ –ย India vs Ireland T20Is to begin an hour early; here’s what prompted the change