Post-Covid Sudharsan has emerged as a different beast

Bengaluru: Career, as everything else in life, is all about progression. It’s about continuously moving the goalposts and surging past it. Judging by B Sai Sudharsan’s performance this Indian Premier League season for Gujarat Titans, there’s no doubt the stylish southpaw is rubber-stamping his status as one of the finest young batters in the country.

The 23-year-old Sudharsan, rated very highly since his age-group days in Tamil Nadu, first stole the limelight in his sophomore season in 2023 when he cracked a career-defining 47-ball 96 in the final against Chennai Super Kings for GT. Although the knock went vain, Sudharsan had already made a statement that he is one for the future with 362 runs in eight innings.

Next season, he became the fastest Indian to reach 1000 runs (25 innings) before amassing 527 runs in 12 innings. His batting, demeanour and the immense self-belief that many young Indian cricketers walk with saw GT retain him for this season, and he has repaid their faith with 617 runs in 12 innings so far.

Although a lot of Indian youngsters have shone in inarguably the premier franchise T20 tournament for various teams this season, Sudharsan has played with a halo around his head that also wears the Orange Cap for the leading run scorer.

During his unbeaten 108 against Delhi Capitals on Sunday, he yet again unveiled the potential he possesses to become possibly a long-term India player, not just in T20s but across formats for the country.

Like most left-handers, he is elegant to the fault. In the cover-drives, flicks and late-cuts, there’s a touch artist. Then in those lofted shots, the pulls and cuts and slow-sweeps, he brings out his power game, putting his 6-foot frame to good effect.

Tanveer Jabbar, who served as the Tamil Nadu chief selector when Sudharsan was first picked for the State senior side in 2021, reckoned the post-Covid version of the batter has mystified everyone.

“I think it was in 2019, during Covid, when we first saw him,” Jabbar, now the batting coach of TN, told DH. “Sai Sudarshan did have that extra spark. As a batter, when I get to see somebody with flexible hands and moving in smooth rhythm, it catches your eye. 

“As a batter, I see how free those hands are and how supple those wrists are. Those were the two things that actually caught our attention and we obviously felt that he has an immense talent. But up until, we felt he hadn’t done great justice to it.

“But post-Covid, I don’t know which switch he turned on, he is a completely different batter. I could clearly see a difference in his balance, difference in his mindset, you know, the routines, the commitment, etc. It’s one thing to be talented and skilled but quite another to translate that into performance. Sudarshan has done that remarkably.”

Not just in the IPL but Sudarshan, who honed his skills at the CSK academy, has been a consistent performer for TN that enabled him to play three ODIs and 1 T20I for India. In 29 first-class matches, he has scored 1957 runs at an average of 39.93 while in one-dayers he has 1396 runs in 27 innings at a superb average of 60.69.

So is Sudarshan ready to play all formats for the country, much like his GT captain Shubman Gill? “I think so,” reckoned Jabbar. “At 23, if he is able to understand himself, if he is able to understand what it takes to be a multi-format player, if has that maturity beyond his age, why not?

“As selectors and as a player, we just don’t see performance-performance and we don’t go by stats primarily. We look at what this guy can deliver for us. We look at, okay, down the line, what is it that we are investing in. It’s not the performance we are trying to invest in.

“So, performance is just a result of a particular character of an individual. So, this guy has got that skill right now,” opined Jabbar.