1983 World Cup hero Kris Srikkanth has heaped praise on young batter Sai Sudharsan for his impressive stroke play, particularly his ability to play off the backfoot, during the recently concluded India vs West Indies Test series. Sudharsan, who missed out on a well-deserved century after being dismissed for 87 in the second Test at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, drew appreciation from the former opener.

However, Srikkanth also advised the Tamil Nadu youngster to focus on converting his promising starts into big hundreds. The left-hander, who made his Test debut during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy earlier this year, had a mixed outing in the series against England, scoring just 140 runs in three matches at an average of 23.33.

His struggles continued in the first Test against the West Indies at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, where he was dismissed cheaply. But Sudharsan showed grit and improvement in the second Test, scoring 87 and 39, performances that are expected to boost his confidence ahead of India’s upcoming series against South Africa in November.

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Srikkanth, who played 43 Tests and 146 ODIs for India, believes Sudharsan still has work to do before securing a permanent place in the red-ball setup.

“He played well, especially off the backfoot, but he needs to convert these knocks into hundreds,” Kris Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel. “There’s a huge difference between 87 or even 99 and a century. Once you get that 100, it changes your career graph completely.”

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The veteran also spoke highly of Yashasvi Jaiswal, calling him a natural all-format player. “Jaiswal plays fearless cricket and adapts beautifully to every situation. He’s someone who can succeed in all formats,” Srikkanth added, highlighting the youngster’s growing maturity and consistency at the international level.