Versatile. Consistency. Grind. Pressure. Conditions. Respect. Read these words in isolation; they make little sense but equate them to B Sai Sudharsan, and you will get an outline of sorts. It's not a surprise that Sudharsan used these words the most during a select media interaction. They give an idea of how he is as a cricketer and person. The one word he missed was visionary.
Before Gujarat Titans' IPL 2025 match against Rajasthan Royals, Sudharsan was seen practising his productive scoop shot without a bat in his hand just beside the centre of the pitch. Hours later, he executed the same against Tushar Deshpande, walking right across his stumps and ramping the ball over fine leg for a six. Visionary, of course!
In the same over, he played an off-drive and a square drive that would make it to the highlights package of a classic Test innings and not to forget the charging down the track ramp shot off Fazhalhaq Farooqi for a six over third man in the previous over. Versatile, you see!
{{/usCountry}}In the same over, he played an off-drive and a square drive that would make it to the highlights package of a classic Test innings and not to forget the charging down the track ramp shot off Fazhalhaq Farooqi for a six over third man in the previous over. Versatile, you see!
{{/usCountry}}He also soaked in the ‘pressure’ exerted by Jofra Archer with the new ball and ‘respected’ the ‘conditions’, which offered good pace and bounce to the seamers who bent their back and then started to play his shots. And when he did, there was no stopping him. The GT opener's 82 off 53 balls laid the foundation for a solid 217-run total, which in the end, proved to be 58 runs too many for RR.
Sudharsan is not your blink-and-miss T20 batter. He is, instead, easy to the eye. While the colour of the ball and clothing change, his versatility remains constant. Not too long ago, he shone for India A in red-ball cricket. This was after he had already earned his India cap in ODIs and T20Is.
And in this IPL, he is one cricketer who has caught Jos Buttler's eye. The same Buttler he has kept at bay from the top of the order at Gujarat Titans. The left-hander's consistency bowled over Buttler as an opener in the IPL. Sudharsan is GT's highest scorer with 273 runs at a strike rate of 154 and the strongest challenger to Nicholas Pooran's orange cap.
"Having someone like Buttler behind you is a cushion. You can do whatever you want to do. You have the freedom to do that," he told Hindustan Times in the JioHotstar Press Room.
Sudharsan doesn't exactly do whatever he wants to do in a match situation. He carefully observes the wicket and then decides his approach as an opener in the shortest format of the game, which has fast grown into a boundary-hitting competition. After losing captain Shubman Gill early in the innings, Sudharsan stitched an 80-run stand with Buttler, where he shifted gears multiple times, not for the first time in this IPL.
Take his innings in GT's IPL 2025 opener against PBKS as an example. With a 244-run target in front of him, it was very easy for Sudharsan to lose his shape and go hell for leather. He didn't do that. He gave himself a couple of overs to assess the conditions and then went for the big shots.
His 74 off 41 was not enough to take GT over the line but he shaped up nicely for the rest of the competition. A proof of that came in GT's next outing against MI when Sudharsan scored 63 off 41 balls, playing a match-winning hand in Gujarat's 36-run victory.
Sudharsan never quite had a concern about scoring runs consistently. Critics would point out his boundary-hitting abilities in the middle overs when the field spread. And for GT as a team, powerplay batting was a big concern - they had the slowest run rate (7.72)among all teams in IPL last year in the first years. He knowingly or unknowingly addressed both in the three knocks that Sudharsan played at the start of the season.
Both he and Gill hit 32 off 18 balls each, taking GT to their third-highest powerplay score in their tournament opener against PBKS. In the same match, Sudharsan hit four fours and as many sixes after the powerplay. Against RCB, Sudharsan hit five boundaries between overs 6-12, which is a boundary each in every over.
"It's all about the situation for me," Sudharsan said when asked to pick between strike rate and average. "If we have to go out there and chase a 270, 280, you have to be versatile enough to do that. At the same time, you also need to fight and grind if you have a 140 or a 150 score on the board or when the wicket is very difficult. If it's a really good wicket, we have to go full on. But if it's a difficult wicket, we have to bite the bullet and play long."
Sudharsan wants to use GT platform to India breakthrough
Sudharsan said he wants to make the most of the freedom given to him by the team management led by head coach Ashish Nehra and captain Shubman Gill. “The way Ashu pa and Shubman give me the freedom in terms of batting, they never interfere in the planning. They give me that full freedom to do whatever I want to do,” he said.
“But at the same time, they keep on advising me which is better, what I can improve in terms of the game, what I can improve in situations, some better options or better match-ups I can take. They're always giving me the right inputs, but at the same time, giving me the complete freedom to do what I want to do. And there are no judgments. I feel if there is a space where you can also make mistakes, that is allowed, I feel, in our team,” he added.
Sudharsan knows getting into the Indian white-ball sides is easier said than done. One good season in IPL is unlikely to be enough but the 23-year-old is ready to put in the hard yards to get his spot back in the side.
"It's everybody's dream to play for the country," he said. "You get a very good platform like IPL to showcase our talent and if we do well, we obviously play for the country, we get an opportunity to represent our country.”
“But I feel the most important thing right now is look at what the team needs, look at what the situation needs at that point in time and that point in game.”
“If I do that really well and try and be so consistent in that and make my team win whenever possible, I think the other things will become a by-product to that,” he said.