The lowdown on the 20-year-old Tamil Nadu batter who has debuted for Gujarat Titans at the IPL
Deivarayan Muthu08-Apr-2022Who is Sai Sudharsan?
He was the breakout star of Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2021, where he was the second-highest run-getter with 358 runs in eight innings at an average of 71.60 and strike rate of 143.77, in Lyca Kovai Kings’ run to the Eliminator. Sai Sudharsan was previously part of Chepauk Super Gillies at the TNPL, but didn’t make his debut until last year. After impressing in TNPL 2021 with his strokeplay, Sai Sudharsan was fast-tracked into Tamil Nadu’s white-ball and Ranji Trophy sides.Okay, tell me about his background…
Sai Sudharsan comes from a fairly strong sporting background. His father Bharadwaj is an athlete who represented India at the South Asian (SAF) Games, while his mother Usha Bharadwaj represented Tamil Nadu in volleyball.Sai Sudharsan brings with him the reputation of being a heavy-scorer in age-group cricket and league cricket in Chennai. He subsequently climbed through the ranks to open the batting for India A alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal in the Under-19 Challenger Trophy in 2019-20. The likes of Tilak Varma, Ravi Bishnoi and Priyam Garg were all part of that tournament.More on his TNPL stint…
Sai Sudharsan kicked off the season with 87 off 43 balls against a Salem Spartans attack led by G Periyaswamy, T Natarajan’s protégé from Chinnappampatti, and M Ashwin, Tamil Nadu’s premier legspinner. Sai Sudharsan was fluent either side of the wicket on debut, with his high-elbowed drives and slog-sweeps having shades of his state senior Washington Sundar.Over the course of the season, Sai Sudharsan showed that he could construct an innings as well as hit out in the middle overs and at the death, something that attracted the attention of the Tamil Nadu selectors.