Former Indian batter Abhishek Nayar feels Sai Sudharsan should improve his game against back of the length deliveries to find more success in Test cricket. Sudharsan scored an impressive knock of 81 runs off 104 balls with the help of 13 fours.
The left-hander added 139 runs off 184 balls with opener KL Rahul to put India in a commanding position. Sudharsan has been backed to bat at one drop by the team management and he would look to get a big score after getting settled.
India went on to declare after posting a mammoth score of 564 runs on the board and then registered a massive innings and 300-run win.
“If I have to be highly critical, and if you have to work on something, it might not be against spin but against fast bowlers. If he is challenged back-of-the-length consistently in the corridor, that’s an area he can get better at when it comes to his backlift, so that he gets a little time when he is playing fast bowlers, especially when there is movement on the pitch,” Abhishek Nayar said on Star Sports.
“It’s very difficult to challenge him if there is no movement because he has a lot of time in his downswing and his footwork, where he adjusts. However, where there is seam movement, and he is challenged with either pace or lateral movement, he will have to become stronger in the corridor,” he added.
Sudharsan was caught behind while trying to drive a full delivery in the first innings.
On the other hand, former Indian leg-spinner Piyush Chawla said Sudharsan will be disappointed after he failed to convert his fifty into a big hundred.
“I feel he will still not be happy because he would feel he had an opportunity to score a big century. A player who has the habit of scoring big runs once he gets set won’t be happy here. However, he is a good takeaway for sure because we have been discussing which batter would get set at No. 3,” he said.
“No matter how the bowling is, and Mohammad Saleem was bowling well and consistently troubling the batters, he has played this knock there. The best part was that he showed that he can play strokes in all directions. He needed to play according to the situation, and he played an excellent knock. However, I would still say that he won’t be happy because he missed a century,” Chawla observed.
Sudharsan will look to get a big score against Sri Lanka to nail his number three place.
