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IPL 2023: Southpaws on the rise, aiming for higher honours
Sudharsan and Varma were together playing in U19 Challenger trophy in 2019-20. After IPL heroics, they have Hardik and Rohit backing them to play for India
After Sai Sudharsan tamed Anrich Nortje’s pace on a challenging Kotla track earlier this week, Hardik Pandya envisioned him playing for India in a couple of years’ time. With Pandya being seen as India’s future white-ball captain, Sudharsan cannot be blamed for sharing the vision. If anything, that should be his goal.
But Pandya also leads Gujarat Titans and captains tend to talk up their players to get the best out of them. Rohit Sharma, India’s current white-ball captain had a similar thing to say about Tilak Varma last year, when he had his breakthrough season for Mumbai Indians - he was their second-highest run-scorer with 397 runs.
That said, Sudharsan and Varma will be aware of the depth of the talent pool of Indian cricket. The two southpaws would also know that they are probably each other’s main competition. So they were, in 2019, when both were picked for India U19 Challenger trophy. Varma impressed the selectors enough to be picked for the 2020 U19 T20 World Cup while Sudharsan missed out. However, Varma did not find instant success at the Youth World Cup.
Three years on, having gained first-class experience with Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad, Sudharsan and Varma are hitting the high notes on the IPL stage. Having come through the ranks before finding favour at the IPL auction – Sudharsan wasn’t picked by Chennai Super Kings despite being in their junior side and Varma was initially rejected by MI talent scouts – they are fast learning the ropes of T20 improvisation.
Indian cricket has had many one-season IPL wonders found wanting on the international stage. To be able to build on the gains in the second season matters the most. They have begun well.
Sudarshan, batting with his upright stance, stamped his class with an impressive array of strokes in the last IPL, pulling and driving Kagiso Rabada. Against Delhi Capitals this year, during his unbeaten 62, he was audacious enough to pull out the ramp and scoop against Nortje’s express pace to take his team home in a testing run chase. “I felt it was one the best knocks I have played in domestic cricket,” he said in an interaction on Friday. “I felt they were the right choice of shots against him. They come with practice.”
“Every youngster wants a platform to showcase their talent. I got a chance to play the TNPL and did well. Then I got an opportunity to play in the Syed Mushtaq Ali, and from there, I got a chance with Gujarat. It would have been difficult without a platform like that (TNPL) to reach (here),” said the 21-year-old, who had also scored a century on Ranji debut.
In Varma’s case, everything came together in his previous innings (84*, 46b, 9x4, 4x6) against Royal Challengers Bangalore. With wickets tumbling at the other end, the elegant left-hander brought his power game to the fore as he launched a brilliant counter-attack, capping the innings with a six. It was a kind of knock that would stay in a selector’s memory bank when it comes to making close calls.
Off the field, the duo come from very different backgrounds. Sudharsan belongs to a sporting family - his father R Bharadwaj, a former sprinter who has represented India, and mother Usha, a volleyball player-turned fitness trainer who guides him through his fitness routines.
Varma’s early days were spent threading the only bat he had with fibre tapes so that it would last long, until he met coach Salam Bayash who took him under his wings to ease his struggles. But IPL’s rewarding auction stage was kind to Varma; his ₹1.7 crore contract gave him the luxury to own as many bats as he wanted. Sudharsan was picked for his base prize of ₹20 lakhs.
Now, with their names being touted for higher honours, the duo who began playing cricket with the same goal in mind during their age-group days know that a bumper IPL season could take them close to making their dream a reality.
