Opening the innings for India A, Sai Sudharsan proved his mettle on Day 1 of the unofficial Test against Sri Lanka A at Galle International Stadium. Sudharsan followed by an 81-run knock against Afghanistan in one-off Test with his ninth first-class century. Sudharsan's century helped Dhruv Jurel-led India A dominate while other big names couldn't go on to get big scores.
Several weeks ahead of the two-Test series on Sri Lanka soil, Sudharsan walked out to bat with Ayush Pandey after Jurel won the toss. Sudharan reached his fifty from 69 balls in the 22nd over. The opening partnership was broken by Dilum Sudeera in his first over at the stroke of lunch. Pandey scored 25 runs from 64 balls in the 82-run partnership.
After the lunch break, Devdutt Padikkal hit a four and a six before becoming Sudeera's second victim of the day. Padikkal and Gaikwad looked to stitch a partnership in the second session. In the 39th over, Sudharsan reached three figures from 130 deliveries. Gaikwad started well but couldn't capitalise. On the first ball of the 46th over, Ravindu Fernando trapped him lbw in front of the stumps. He scored 22 runs from 53 balls. At the end of the second session, India A were 199/3 from 49 overs.
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Sudharsan's knock came to an end. The southpaw lost his wicket to Chamika Gunasekara in the 53rd over. His knock of 132 off 175 deliveries, featured 19 fours.
Positive sign for India
Sudharsan has been backed by Indian team management, given a long rope ahead of Padikkal. The head coach Gautam Gambhir and assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate feel that the sample size is not enough to judge Sudharsan as India’s search for a no.3 batter hasn’t ended since Cheteshwar Pujara.
Considering India’s spin problems of late, Sudharsan’s century in Galle is a positive sign. The 24-year-old has been backed on the international stage for the red-ball format only. Currently, he is not in the scheme of things for T20Is and ODIs where there are already plenty of contenders.
India will resume their World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-26 campaign in Sri Lanka in August. Placed sixth on the table, they would look for a series win in Sri Lanka to revive their hopes of reaching the WTC final for the third time.