CHENNAI: At one point during the chase against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Wednesday, Gujarat Titans opener B Sai Sudharsan wanted to break free. He was stuck at five runs from 11 balls and half the powerplay was already over.
Sai Sudharsan shuffled across against Josh Hazlewood and lapped the Australian pacer over the line in fine-leg. The next ball, he charged at the bowler and presented the full face of the bat, sending it down the ground for a four. In two deliveries, he had gotten to run-a-ball.
He wouldn't stop there. Sai Sudharsan soon brought out a smooth flick off Yash Dayal, and that was just in the powerplay. He went on to smash 49 runs from 36 balls before getting out against the run of play, in an attempt to lap Hazlewood again.
By the looks of it, this might not seem massive. But Sai Sudharsan had almost got to his third consecutive fifty of the season, taking his tally to 186 in three innings. Now, it is not the runs that make you sit up and look, nor the aesthetics of the lanky left-hand batter. These factors were always there but there was more to it.
First thing, how he visualised playing those shots against RCB. The broadcaster would later show how before the match Sai Sudharsan was at the centre wicket, imitating the exact shots he intended and went on to play in the match. And it included the lap shot that was his six as well as the dismissal.
Visualisation is a key part of Sai Sudharsan's preparation and apart from the hours of practice he puts in, he sees himself playing those shots in real-time situations. "I feel the most important thing for me is visualisation and putting in that hard work in the practice," he explained during the JioHotstar Press Room on Friday. "I try to see what the bowler is doing. Then I try to take some tactical advantages from those bowlers. First try it out in the nets, whether it is possible to do against them, whether it is possible to execute it in the game. Get some balls in the ground, then I go in, I visualise it. Then I go in and try it in the match," he added.
If visualisation and practice is one thing, the upskilling also comes from the understanding of the format and the things he feels necessary to give his best at the highest level. He doesn't shy away from admitting how much he learnt from the way SRH batters, especially Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, batted last year. And don't forget, this was the season where Sai Sudharsan scored 527 runs in 12 innings at 47.91 average and 141.29 strike rate.
This year, there is a stark difference. He still takes the first ten balls or so, but even then one can see how much he has upskilled. For example, in contrast to 16 sixes in 12 innings last year, he has already hit nine in three so far. And his boundary percentage has gone up from 54.64 to 63.44. The number of shots in his armour, the range he could explore have expanded as well.
While doing all that, Sai Sudharsan knows his strengths and limitations and wants to give his best for a given situation that is in front of him."I feel it's all about the situation for me. If we have to go out there and chase a 270-280 or you can score a 300 total. You have to be versatile enough to do 300 totals as well. At the same time, fight your battle and grind if we have a 140-150 score on the board when the wicket is very difficult.
"Yes, definitely, T20 cricket has evolved a lot. SRH and all the explosive batters have taught me a lot of things last year to improve and to get better at it. But I feel it's again about the situation. If it's a really good wicket, a really flat hard wicket, we have to go full on. But if it's a difficult wicket, we have to bite the bullet and play long. I try and react best to my fullest potential to that situation and take whatever comes," he said.
The season is still young, and there is still a long road ahead. But Sai Sudharsan has made sure he has taken the first few steps right. And he is just getting started.
