As India players and support staff headed home from Ahmedabad to enjoy a couple of days’ break ahead of the second Test starting in Delhi on Friday, the only player who could be under any sort of pressure would be B Sai Sudharsan. In a dominant performance from the home team, the left-hander was an exception. Appearing tentative right through his 19-ball innings of 7, Sai was dismissed going for a shot that he would prefer to erase from his memory.
While explaining the decision to drop Karun Nair for the West Indies series, chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar had made a point that Sai must keep in mind. “We expected more from Karun Nair in England. It cannot be about just one innings.” This also holds true for Sai, given the competition for spots. No player can afford to have a string of low scores without risking the axe.
Of course, selectors and the team management don’t go by scores alone. During a transition, where the Test team finds itself at the moment, there is plenty of expectations from the Tamil Nadu batsman. It is the reason why after they decided to move on from Karun, they looked at Sai, even ahead of Abhimanyu Easwaran, a batsman who averages 48.50 in first-class cricket and has been part of the squads in all recent tours without making his debut.
Beyond Easwaran, Rajat Patidar is back scoring runs in the middle order, and will happily take an opportunity to bat at No 3. There are three other candidates in Dhruv Jurel, Devdutt Padikkal and Washington Sundar, a player who was discussed prior to the England series as a potential No.3.
But the reason the selectors went with Sai was the belief that he has a tight game and temperament suited to play Test cricket in varied conditions. At the end of the England series, when both teams spent an evening together, it is learnt that Joe Root, who has helped Jurel in the past, had a word with Sai, asking him to keep his game as simple as it is now. It is a sentiment that two other former England captains Mike Atherton and Nasser Hussain had also shared with him.
Those words had come at a time when there was plenty of scrutiny from the outside world about Sai’s dismissals down the leg-side on that tour. On his return from England, it was an area where Sai worked with his coaches in Chennai. At Ahmedabad, he didn’t seem worried about that line of attack.
But he appeared a bit tentative against spinners. For a batsman quick on his feet, Sai remained rooted to the crease and instead of coming forward, happened to commit an error by going back.
It isn’t as if Sai came into the Test rusty. After the South Zone selectors didn’t include him for the Duleep Trophy, he spent a couple of weeks at the Centre of Excellence before featuring in two matches for India A scoring 73, 75 and 100 against Australia A in what KL Rahul said were tough conditions to bat.
So the Ahmedabad Test should have ideally been an opportunity for Sai to make the No.3 spot his own, at least for the upcoming South Africa series at home.
But he has all to prove in Delhi. It is understood that the left-hander still enjoys the backing of the team management, but with the Ranji Trophy set to resume in 10 days, any notable performance from the other contenders would only put more pressure on Sai.
Irrespective of whether he makes runs in Delhi or not, the 23-year-old knows a lot is at stake in the coming weeks. When his predecessor Cheteshwar Pujara made the cut for the Indian team, he had 14 first-class centuries and averaged 60.38. At present, Sai has only 8 first-class tons and averages 39.86, which shows he is a pick based on promise and not on the sheer volume of runs. While head coach Gautam Gambhir has said, time and again, that players would be given enough opportunities to prove themselves – Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson are cases in point – it would be interesting to see if Sai is afforded the same luxury, particularly with the competition around.
At a time when tons of runs in domestic cricket are overlooked, Sai may consider himself lucky to get the break in Tests based on his performances in the IPL. It’s his simple uncomplicated batting style that the team management has put its faith in. All of it would prove futile if Sai doesn’t convert promise into performances.
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