Sai Sudharsan, the Chennai Boy Shakes Up CSK On the Biggest Stage


image-li91b2h7Sai Sudharsan playing a shot against CSK in the IPL final (AP Photo)

Sai Sudharsan is one of those unfazed young cricketer who doesn't catch the limelight often but has taken rapid strides in Indian cricket in the last couple of years. He is from Chennai and plays for Tamil Nadu in domestic cricket and has been able to make his name across formats for his state with consistent performances. 

The average of over 60 in List A, around 50 in first-class and over 35 in T20 cricket shows the value he brings to the table for TN but somehow in recent times, a player seem to garner  attention only when he performs in the IPL.

Sai Sudharsan has now ticked that box as well in the 2023 season, his second season in the IPL for Gujarat Titans. The young man very swiftly made his mark at number 3 for GT, after Kane Williamson got injured in the very first game. 

He, however, could not fit into GT's scheme of things in the middle phase of the season but was again trusted in the knockout stage which talks a lot about his class and pedigree. 

Sai scored 43 off 31 balls in the Qualifier 2, a must-win game for GT but was retired out as Gujarat management felt that he is not accelerating enough in the death overs. The Chennai boy though decided to save his best and made a big statement against the team that everyone in his city and state worships, that too in the final of IPL 2023 - CSK. 

Sai Sudharsan's arrival on the big stage

The stage does not get any better and the 21-year old boy smashed MSD's bowlers all over the park as he accelerated unbelievably  to score 73 runs in his last 28 balls after scoring 23 runs in his first 19 balls.

Sai Sudharsan ended up scoring 96 off just 47 balls and though he felt short by four runs, he has got to the third highest individual score in the history of the IPL finals. He is also the second youngest batter to score a fifty in the IPL final and with this knock we can safely say that - Sai Sudharsan, the Chennai Boy has arrived on the big stage.

Temperament and consistency - The two essentials of a great batter

There are many young cricketers who arrive on the scene with truckloads of talent, but very few manage to translate that talent into consistent performances. Virat Kohli is a classic example of a talent maximizing its full potential, and the two things that sets Kohli apart is his temperament to deliver under pressure and the consistency his brings to the table.|

Sai Sudharsan, in his short cricketing career, has shown glimpses of both of these qualities. As mentioned before, he has shown tremendous consistency for TN across formats in domestic cricket, and in the limited opportunities he has got in the IPL, he has shown both temperament and consistency. 

The GT batter has an average of 46.09 in 13 IPL games at a strike rate of 137.03 and has played plenty of important knocks at number 3 when his team needed it the most. This is just the start for the young man, and he is not a finished product by any stretch of the imagination, but this knock of 96 in the IPL final might just be the start of a beautiful journey that blossoms as time moves on.