Sai Sudharsan has risen in ranks in the past few months and before making his international debut he has been picked by Surrey to play in the ongoing County Championship. Sudharsan has become the fifth Indian player to sign a contract with the County side. The 21-year-old is the first uncapped Indian player to get picked by Surrey.
Surrey head coach Alec Stewart was pleased with the youngster’s signing as he said, “With the busy schedule of international and domestic cricket around the world, I’m pleased to add Sai Sudharsan to our available squad of players.
"Sai has come highly recommended to me by people I hugely respect, including a couple of the greats of the Indian game, who have seen and worked closely with him.
“Sai will add to the batting options for the final three games of the season, and we look forward to welcoming him to the dressing room,” Stewart said in a club statement.
The left-handed batter will make his County debut against Warwickshire in a home clash starting September 3. The next clash will be against Northamptonshire starting September 19. His only away game in his maiden County stint will be against Hampshire starting September 26.
Currently, he will be the second overseas signing in the ongoing season alongside West Indies’ Kemar Roach. Currently, Surrey are at the top of the Championship's Division One points table. They are 17 points ahead of Essex.
Sudharsan’s numbers so far
The Chennai-born batter has scored 598 runs from 14 innings in First-Class cricket at an average of 42.71 including two centuries and one half-century. Recently, he scored a century in the ACC Emerging Cup 2023. Earlier, he rose to fame with a 96-run knock for Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 final against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Earlier this month, he was also picked as a standby player for Asian Games 2023.
Indian players who have represented Surrey
Zaheer Khan in 2004 became the first Indian player to sign for Surrey. Then Harbhajan Singh represented Surrey in 2005 and 2007. Anil Kumble in 2006 had a stint across formats for Surrey. Five years later, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha played for Surrey as well.
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