Veteran Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik praised young opener Sai Sudharsan after his impressive 55-run knock on ODI debut against South Africa on Sunday, December 17. Sudharsan smashed a stunning half-century, helping the Indian team chase down a modest 117-run target to go 1-0 up in the three-match series as well. Karthik, who has shared the dressing room with him for Tamil Nadu, also opened up about his work ethic.
During a discussion on Cricbuzz, Karthik said: “He is a very sorted kid. He was there with me in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy. He got a hundred in the first game against Goa on a tough pitch and batter beautifully. The skills are there to see. But for me, what stands out from that boy, is how hard he works. He has such a tough routine; it is not even funny. He wakes up in the morning and does yoga, comes to the ground, does a warmup, and then again does suryanamaskar, and then goes out to bat. In between that, if he you have decided to field first, you should see the amount of effort he puts in in just the warmups. He is a boy who needs ounces of energy because he has so much effort to give in for every game, and that literally shines through in his career so far.”
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While India lost Ruturaj Gaikwad very early in the run chase, Sai Sudharsan and Shreyas Iyer’s 88-run partnership for the second wicket helped India win. However, Team India’s left-arm pace bowler Arshdeep Singh did exceptionally well in the ODI series opener against South Africa, claiming a brilliant five-wicket haul.
“He has had a tough few months. In T20 cricket, his returns have not been great, and he has been found wanting in terms of consistency. What he has done well when he has bowled well is, at the back end, he is very good with his yorkers and has developed a good slower ball. With the new ball, what was very good about him was he can swing the ball both ways. He brings the ball back into the right-handers naturally, and then develop the one that goes away. It is a much slower ball, but still a very effective ball because that puts the doubt in the right-hander’s mind,” Dinesh Karthik concluded.
