Bengaluru: Since making his Ranji Trophy debut in the 2022-23 season, Tamil Nadu's Sai Sudharsan showcased class and craft across formats. There was no element of surprise when the bespectacled southpaw was handed the Indian Test camp in England. With an average of 21 in four Test matches, the top-order batter was under the pump ahead of the second and last Test against West Indies in New Delhi earlier this month. He came up with a morale-boosting 87 in the first innings and 37 in the second innings of the match.
On Thursday, the eve of the first tour game against South Africa 'A', the 24-year-old revealed that head coach Gautam Gambhir's pep talk before the match calmed his nerves.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!"The support was impeccable," he said of the team management backing during the home series."
Ahead of the Delhi Test match, after practice at the Feroz Shah Kotla nets, I was the last one to leave. GG sir (Gambhir) called me and said, 'You are not getting desperate, you are here because of many reasons. You are one of the best players in the country. So, do not think about any of the other things. Don't think that you have to score runs in this game, or what will happen if you don't,' revealed Sudharsan, who had a fine run in the tour games against Australia 'A' ahead of the West Indies series.
His confidence got a booster shot when Gambhir confirmed his place in the line-up, "He told me, 'you will play'. The way he told gave me so much confidence and freedom. I was trying to be freer and not think about external factors. But when you hear it from the head coach, the perspective and environment change drastically."
Sudharsan believes the runs were an offshoot of the conversation. "That [conversation] helped me express myself better. Even in that game [Delhi Test], I wasn't in a mindset just to get runs, I was in a mindset to fight and win and dominate for the team."
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