Sai Sudharsan is an Indian cricketer who is known for hitting big shots and his cool nature on the field. He plays for Tamil Nadu in Indian domestic cricket. He plays for Lyca Kovai Kings in the Tamil Nadu Premier League and Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Sai Sudharsan aka Bharadwaj Sai Sudharsan was born on Monday, 15 October 2001 (age 21 years; as of 2023) in Venkatesa Agraharam, Mylapore, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. His zodiac sign is Libra. He studied at DAV School in Chennai and later at Santhome Higher Secondary School in Chennai and played cricket in many tournaments for them. [1]Facebook – Sai Sudharsan
Sai Sudharsan was awarded after winning the first tournament for his school
He was interested in cricket since childhood and played using a tennis ball with his brother at the ground where his father practised. He later pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College, Chennai. [2]The New Indian Express He kept on practising and got selected for the state team.
Sai Sudharsan during his childhood with Australian cricketer Michael Bevan
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 9″
Weight (approx.): 65 kg
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
His father’s name is Bharadwaj R, and his mother’s name is Alagu Usha Bharadwaj. His father is a former international athlete (sprinter and long jumper) who represented India in the SAF games in Dhaka, Bangladesh. His mother is a former state-level volleyball player who currently works as a strength and conditioning coach. He has a brother named Sairam Bharadwaj.
Sai Sudharsan’s father, Bharadwaj R (left), Sai Sudharsan, and his mother, Alagu Usha Bharadwaj
Sai Sudharsan’s mother, Alagu Usha Bharadwaj, with Sai’s brother, Sairam Bharadwaj
Wife & Children
He is unmarried.
Relationships/Affairs
He is single.
Religion
He follows Hinduism.
Career
Domestic
Sai Sudharsan was selected for the Tamil Nadu Under-14 team and played many matches for them. He scored four half-centuries in 5 matches in an Under-14 South Zone tournament and finished as 4th highest runscorer. He later played for Tamil Nadu Under-16 and Under-19 teams. He started out playing for Triplicane Friends United Cricket Club (TFUCC) in 2017 in the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) third division. He played in Vijay Merchant and Vinnoo Mankad tournaments in 2019 in which he scored two centuries. He was selected for India A team for the U-19 Challenger series in 2019 which featured three teams from India and Nepal. He played for Alwarpet CC in the TNCA’s first division in the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He earned a reputation as a heavy scorer for scoring maximum runs in most of the matches he played. In the 2019-20 Rajah of Palayampatti Shield Trophy, he was the highest runscorer with 635 runs at an average of 52.92.
Sai Sudharsan and B Aparajith scored splendid double tons for Alwarpet CC & Jolly Rovers CC respectively, while Guru Raghavendran stroked a brilliant unbeaten 199 for India Pistons CC in the Raja of Palayampatti Shield (1st Division). pic.twitter.com/Mhen4sALad
— TNCA (@TNCACricket) March 15, 2020
He played his debut T20 match for Tamil Nadu in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 on 4 April 2021 against Maharashtra and scored 35 runs. He helped the team to clinch the tournament.
Sai Sudharsan after winning the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021
He played his debut match for Tamil Nadu in the Vijay Hazare Trophy on 8 December 2021 against Mumbai and scored 24 runs. He played for Jolly Rovers Cricket Club in 2022 in the senior division of TNCA and was the highest run scorer in the 2022-23 Rajah of Palayampatti Shield Trophy with 1003 runs in 9 matches (13 innings) at an average of 91.18 which included 4 centuries and 5 half-centuries. He played his debut match for Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy 2022 on 13 December 2022 against Hyderabad and scored 179 and 42 runs in the first and second innings respectively.
Sai Sudharsan in his debut Ranji match
He became the vice-captain of Tamil Nadu in his debut Raji Trophy season. He was the third-highest runscorer in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2022-23 with 610 runs in 8 matches at an average of 76.25 and a strike rate of 111.92.
International
ODI
Sai made his ODI debut on 17 December 2023 against South Africa at Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg and made his first ODI half-century on his debut with 55 runs (not out) in 43 balls.
Leagues
Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL)
He was acquired by the Chepauk Super Gillies for the 2019 Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL); however, he did not get any chance to play. In the 2020 season of TNPL, he played for Lyca Kovai Kings (LKK) and burst onto the scene with a blistering knock of 87 runs off 43 balls against Salem Spartans. He was the second-highest runscorer of the 2021 TNPL season with 358 runs in 8 matches at an average of 71.60 and a strike rate of 143.77.
Sai Sudharsan playing for Lyca Kovai Kings in the Tamil Nadu Premier League
In the 2023 auction for the TNPL, he emerged as the most expensive player and was acquired by Lyca Kovai Kings for Rs 21.60 lakhs, which was higher than his IPL salary of Rs 20 lakhs.
Indian Premier League (IPL)
In the 2022 IPL Mega-auction for the 2022 IPL season, he was acquired by Gujarat Titans for the base price of Rs 20 lakhs. He played his debut match in IPL on 8 April 2022 against Punjab Kings and scored 35 runs. In the 2022 IPL season, he scored 145 runs in 5 matches at an average of 36.25 and a strike rate of 127.19 which also included a half-century against Punjab Kings.
Sai Sudharsan with IPL 2022 Trophy after Gujarat Titans won it in 2022
In a match against Delhi Capitals in IPL 2023 season, he scored 62 runs not out off 48 balls to help Gujarat win the match. He was given his first Man of the Match award in IPL for his performance.
Sai Sudharsan hitting a shot during his knock of 62 runs against Delhi Capitals in IPL 2023
His skills and temperament were praised by Titans Captain Hardik Pandya who said in the post-match conference that he would play for India in the next two years. He said,
He (Sai Sudharsan) has been batting terrifically. Credit to the support staff and to him as well. The amount of batting he’s done in the last 15 days, all the result you see is all his hard work. Going forward, if I’m not wrong, in two years, he’ll do something great for franchise cricket and eventually for India cricket as well.” [3]Hindustan Times
South African player David Miller also praised Sai’s batting in the post-match conference and said that he was a very talented batsman. He said,
To come and do what he’s done in the last two games is very encouraging for the team. He is a seriously talented player and we need him in the squad. It’s nice to see him do really well. Pretty happy with his performance and it’s great to see him get the Man of the Match award.” [4]The Indian Express
A confident & match winning knock of 62*(48) by Sai Sudharsan makes the young Indian batter our 🔝 performer from the second innings of the #DCvGT clash in #TATAIPL 💪
A look at his batting summary 🔽 pic.twitter.com/c9BHrcXAN1
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 4, 2023
Favourites
- Cheat Meal: Chicken Biryani
- Cricketer: Michael Hussey
- Shot: Straight drive
- Movie: Nanban
- Song: One Kiss by Dua Lipa
Facts/Trivia
- His batting style is Left-handed, and his bowling style is left-arm leg break.
- Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin was impressed by his batting in Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2021 and tweeted that Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) should take note of his talent.
This boy Sai Sudarshan is special, get him into the TN team asap! @TNCACricket . He had such a good league season and has now seamlessly transitioned into the 20 over format.✅✅ #solidtalent @TNPremierLeague #TNPL
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) July 19, 2021
- His coach in the Tamil Nadu team M Venkataramana said in an interview that Sai had a lot of talent and worked very hard. He said,
He is talented, has a wide range of strokes and has worked hard. Sai (Sudharsan) is a good athlete and works hard on his game. It is good to see him keep improving. He has a good range of shots and has the ability to bat long once he settles down, which is a nice quality.” [5]The Times of India
Assistant coach of the Tamil Nadu state team R Prasanna said in an interview that Sai was like other youngsters of his age during the Under-16 years; however, he worked hard to improve his batting and became serious about his career. He said
I saw him at an under-16 camp. I noticed he had the talent to score runs. Like all boys at that age, he was a playful lad and did not appear too focused on fielding, fitness, etc. But he has changed phenomenally over the years. He has had the run-scoring knack and has worked hard to get the results. I am so happy for him. He just kept getting better and the TNPL was a good platform for him to show the talent he had and catapulted him to the TN teams (white ball and red ball).” [6]The Times of India
- His mother Usha Bharadwaj said in an interview that Sai was impressed by Indian cricketer Virat Kohli‘s fitness and worked very hard on his fitness. He used to watch a lot of Kohli’s videos which inspired him to work on his fitness. He trained under her as she is a strength and conditioning coach. [7]Jansatta
- He has a very good friendship with fellow Tamil Nadu cricketer Washington Sundar and said that he first played against Sundar during a school-level tournament. He added that Sundar consoled him after he lost a match, and he was very impressed with the quick progress Sundar has made in his career.
Spot 4⃣ differences!👀
Washington Sundar 🆚 Sai Sudharsan#ShriramCapitalTNPL2021 #TNPL #NammaPasangaNammaGethu pic.twitter.com/HvxsfA5Ov9
— TNPL (@TNPremierLeague) July 24, 2021
- In an interview, he credited his parents for his disciplined approach to his batting and for scoring this huge number of runs in different tournaments. He said that his parents always told him that he should always try to score the maximum number of runs and should become mentally tough to become a good player.
- He said in an interview that had he not become a cricketer, he would have been a singer.
- He likes to play games on Playstation and eat at restaurants to relax from cricket.
- On 21 November 2022, he opened the batting with another Tamil Nadu batsman Narayan Jagadeesan against Arunachal Pradesh in a match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The duo put on an opening partnership of 416 runs which included his 154 runs off 102 balls (19 fours and 2 sixes) and Jagadeesan’s 277 runs off 144 balls (25 fours and 15 sixes). It was the highest partnership in any List A match across the world. Tamil Nadu made a mammoth score of 506 runs for 2 wickets in 50 overs, which is the highest total in a List A match worldwide. [8]CNBC TV18 [9]Sportstar
A record breaking partnership between Sai Sudharsan and N Jagadeeshan ends at 416 in just 232 balls.
Sai Sudharsan goes for 154 in 102 balls.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) November 21, 2022
References
