Sai Sudarshan said that he enjoyed every bit of playing in India’s first ODI against South Africa on Sunday, December 17 at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.
“It’s amazing to first play for the country and contribute to the team as well. Every small kid who starts playing wants to do best for their nation. I had a great outing,” Sudarshan was quoted as saying after the match.
Before the start of the match, Sudarshan got his maiden India cap from KL Rahul, who is the Indian skipper in the ongoing ODI series. The southpaw said that he is a big fan of the cap-giving culture.
“It was a wonderful feeling and I love the culture of giving caps. I started getting the caps in Tamil Nadu, and it is always special for me wherever I play and wherever I get the cap. I have a separate hanger in my house to keep whichever cap I get. And getting it from KL bhai was special,” he stated.
Sudarshan had an excellent match after he became only the fourth Indian opening batter to get a score of 50 plus on debut in ODIs. The left-handed batter stayed unbeaten on 55 runs off 43 balls with nine fours as India chased down the target of 117 with as many as 20 balls left in their innings.
After the Men in Blue lost the early wicket of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sudarshan put on 88 runs for the second wicket with Shreyas Iyer to put India in a winning position. The young left-hander, however, said that batting wasn’t all that easy on a tricky surface and communication was key in the middle.
“It settled down a bit, but it was not easy as it was a difficult pitch to bat on. But we had good communication in between, and it helped us to adjust to the conditions as well,” Sudharsan added.
