Sai Sudharsan might not have had the dream start to his Test career, but India’s team management continues to place full trust in the young batter’s potential. Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate confirmed that the Tamil Nadu left-hander enjoys the backing of captain Shubman Gill and the support staff as India prepare for the second Test against West Indies starting Friday. Sudharsan, who turns 24 next week, has scored 147 runs in seven innings so far with one half-century. Despite the modest returns, ten Doeschate said the team believes in his ability to make an impact at the top of the order. “I am sure he does feel like he’s got our backing, like he’s got the captain’s backing and the coaching staff’s backing. And we feel he’ll deliver on his promise very soon,” ten Doeschate said on Wednesday. With Rishabh Pant set to return for the South Africa series and Dhruv Jurel impressing with both bat and gloves, Sudharsan faces increasing competition for his place. But ten Doeschate believes that such challenges are part of playing for India. “I don’t think you pursue a career of playing cricket in India if you don’t expect that sort of competition. That’s quite impossible and we know it is tough enough to deal with that,” he said. “Sai just needs to focus on believing in himself. We’ve obviously got a lot of belief in him to give him that number three spot.”The coach also added, “I think he’s under no illusion and he can’t hide away from the fact that you do fight for a spot in this environment. You know, you saw Karun Nair get four Test matches in England.”
Poll
How confident are you in Sai Sudharsan’s ability to perform in the upcoming Test matches?
The coach also dismissed any talk of panic over Sudharsan’s form. “Certainly there is no panic or no worry, particularly in a winning team, you can absorb that,” ten Doeschate said, adding that Sudharsan will get enough chances to prove himself in the ongoing series. He also highlighted the challenges of irregular scheduling between Test matches. “It doesn’t help that you have five Test matches in the UK and then you wait six weeks to play the next. But again, that is the nature of Test cricket in this era, and he has to find a way to do it,” ten Doeschate added.
