Sai Sudharsan, the young batsman from Tamil Nadu, received a rare standing ovation from his Gujarat Titans teammates for his impressive knock of 96 off 46 balls in the Indian Premier League final against the Chennai Super Kings. Despite his outstanding performance, Gujarat Titans ended up losing the finals. However, the image of his teammates applauding him remains etched in Sudharsan’s memory.

Expressing his delight, Sai Sudharsan stated in an exclusive interview with CNN-News 18, “It is special to get a standing ovation from your own teammates. I think it was very special for me and very special for my family as well. I am really happy that I could contribute to the team in such an important game, which is the IPL final. It is close to my heart, and I’m very happy about the performance. It took me some time to process it.”

While Sudharsan plays for Gujarat Titans, he hails from Chennai and holds great admiration for MS Dhoni. He had the opportunity to have a conversation with Dhoni for about 10-15 minutes after Qualifier 1. Reflecting on the interaction, Sudharsan shared, “I think we spoke a lot about cricket, knowing more about yourself, and I think it is very useful, and I will take it going forward, definitely.”

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Describing Dhoni as a humble person, Sai Sudharsan looks forward to interacting with the “Thala” once again in the next IPL season. He expressed, “Dhoni is the most humble person I have met because he gives time to everyone. On the day I spoke to him, there were a lot of people talking to him before. He was very humble and gave everybody a lot of time, and that is one thing I admire about him. The way he reads the game, I would also like to learn a lot from him, and if given an opportunity, I would like to speak to him in the future.”

As a CSK fan, Sai Sudharsan hopes to see Dhoni in the next IPL season. Recalling his experience of playing against CSK in the finals, the 21-year-old player expressed, “It felt very special to play against CSK in the finals. To be honest, I grew up watching CSK and almost saw all the cricketers play. Coming from Chennai, CSK is always close to everyone’s heart, and to me as well. We grew up seeing Dhoni play. I’m happy and fortunate that I got an opportunity at the start of the tournament to play…So, I had a very great feeling.”

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Sudharsan also expressed his gratitude towards senior players like Sachin Tendulkar and his captain, Hardik Pandya, for giving him the opportunity to showcase his talent. He praised Pandya for creating a platform for every cricketer to shine and credited the team environment for instilling belief in his abilities.

Looking ahead, Sudharsan will be busy playing in the Tamil Nadu Premier League, which begins this month. He considers TNPL an important platform for showcasing his talent, emphasizing, “It’s because of TNPL that I’m here.”