Against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL final game, Sai Sudarshan, a 22-year-old cricketer for Gujarat Titans (GT), who was acquired at auction for just Rs 20 lakh, played his best knock of his career. At the plate, Sudarshan scored 96 runs off 47 balls after being put in at one down.
After scoring 266 runs in seven innings prior to this game, Sudarshan reached his third half-century of the year. In Qualifier 2, when GT wanted to up the ante on their scoring, the Southpaw was in fact “retired out” against the Mumbai Indians (MI). However, the young batter rose to the occasion on the big night by bowling an all-time great IPL inning in the championship game against MS Dhoni’s team.
The night’s shining star comes from a line of athletes. While his mother Usha Bharadwaj competed in volleyball for Tamil Nadu, Sudarshan’s father R Bharadwaj was an athlete who represented India at the 1993 South Asian Games in Dhaka.
In his debut game for Kovai Kings in the Tamil Nadu Premier League at the age of 19, Sudharshan scored 87 runs off just 43 pitches against the Salem team. The talented Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, a former star of CSK and current Delhi Capitals player, took notice of him as a result. Ashwin tweeted about Sai calling him “special.”
In earlier interviews, Sudarshan acknowledged that, at his parents’ urging, he had switched out his favorites like pizza and pasta for healthier options like chicken breast. Last year, Sudarshan participated in the IPL as well, and he claims that this experience was instrumental in his successful domestic campaign. He was able to practice and become accustomed to more demanding circumstances in close matches thanks to the caliber of bowlers he encountered in the IPL.
He now appears to be putting all those lessons learned into practice on the field in his second season. According to Sudarshan, Hardik and Nehra communicate in a very direct and concise manner. They only discuss topics that pertain to emotional self-control in particular match contexts. That is amply demonstrated by Sudarshan’s tremendous maturity over the course of the last two games.
Twitter Reactions After His Epic Knock:
@gujarat_titans is the franchise who found dimond in the face of Sai sudarshan. What a player played a fantastic knock in the final of tata ipl #IPL2023Final #GTvCSK
— SURAJ PANDEY (@SURAJPA05570024) May 29, 2023
https://twitter.com/rutvij_thakar/status/1663238148858724352?s=20
DO YOU KNOW?
— गिरजेश लोधी (@GirjeshGLodhi) May 29, 2023
Sai Sudarshan earns more from Tamil Nadu Premier League than Indian Premier League!#SaiSudharsan#IPL2023#CSKvGT pic.twitter.com/gdoDo2e1Ab
https://twitter.com/iamdk_jha/status/1663237942339571712?s=20
Sai Sudarshan has showed , he has Temprament of highest order.
— Ganesh (@GaneshNagnurwar) May 29, 2023
He was given no. 3 slot and he has bailed out GT every time from tough situation.
👏#SaiSudarshan#GTvsCSK
Watching today's match only for Mahi💛But Sai sudarshan played amazingly 💛mean while enjoying watching commentary 😀⭐ #IPLonJioCinema
— Rajni Vaishnow (@RajniVaishnow) May 29, 2023
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