Bengaluru, April 3 (PTI) Opener B Sai Sudharsan felt exposure to “difficult conditions” during his current stint with IPL side Gujarat Titans has contributed immensely to him evolving as a T20 batter.
Sudharsan played a fine innings of 49 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in GT’s eight-wicket win here on Wednesday night to showcase the benefits of his hard yards at nets.
“It’s my fourth year (in the IPL), so I feel it has given me a lot of experience. I got exposed to a few difficult conditions. I got exposed to a lot of fast bowling in the nets with GT,” Sudharsan said in the post-match press meet.
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“I feel the most important thing which has helped my evolution or the way I’ve improved my T20 batting is the game-time I get here and the practice time I get here with the Titans, with the bowlers, all quality international bowlers,” he added.
At GT nets, he has the privilege to horn his skills against the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Mohammad Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Gerald Coetzee this season. In the previous years, he had faced the likes of Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma.
Sudharsan now sits on the second place in the run-markers’ chart with 186 runs. The left-hander has made those runs at an average of 62 and at a strike-rate of 158.
“So, I feel that has helped me even from the nets, I would say. I got exposed to a lot of things, a lot of difficult conditions.
“I’ve learnt a lot in these three years. I feel it has helped me understand the game better and the basics of the game as well,” he said.
Sudharsan also lauded Jos Buttler for lending experience to the side at the No. 3 slot.
“I feel Butler is bringing in a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge, which is helping us to to settle the middle-overs and have a very good last five overs,” he said.
RCB head coach Andy Flower said losing four wickets in the first seven overs made it tough for his side.
“We played very aggressively in the power play and lost some wickets, lost three wickets in the power play. Four wickets in power play.
“So, that was obviously a big swing in the game — if you lose power play, you’re in trouble,” he said.
Flower identified Siraj’s outstanding spell (3/19) as one of the reasons for RCB’s defeat, but stopped short of blaming a slower than usual Chinnaswamy deck for the result.
“It definitely wasn’t a typical Chinnaswamy wicket, where you’d expect the ball to come on a little bit quicker than that. In the first innings, the ball did rip off the seam with the drier ball. So, I think that was fairly important in the context of the game.
“But it’s also important to acknowledge that, that’s not the reason for the result. Siraj bowled very well, didn’t he? He bowled an outstanding spell with the new ball. His lines were really tight, lengths were good, and he threatened the stumps a lot,” he said.
The Zimbabwean said RCB would continue their aggressive batting ways despite the reversal against GT.
“This is an attacking game, and aggression is very much a part of the game. I think there’s always an assessment of risk you’re making in any format of the game. So, getting that risk-reward balance is part of a batsman’s job always.
“In the face of some good, accurate bowling from GT, struggled in power play, no doubt about that. But sometimes that happens,” he said.
Flower also patted Sudharsan for playing a lovely hand for the Titans.
“Sudarshan played beautifully, I thought. You know, the choice of shots, he played the spin nicely, he chose the areas he wanted to hit the spin, I thought, really well. So, you know, he’s had a good start to the competition,” he said.
