Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], April 25 : Following his century against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), former West Indies cricketer Ian Bishop hailed the elegant southpaw for his knock and called for the rest of the batting line-up to step up in terms of scoring rates.
Despite Sudharsan's 58-ball 100, the rest of the Titans' line-up failed to chip in enough runs, making 105 runs in the remaining 62 balls and the target of 206 runs turned out to be a rather easy one for Virat Kohli (81) and Devdutt Padikkal (55), who scored flashy, stroke-filled half-centuries to kill the game within the first 10 overs itself.
One of the key reasons perhaps behind GT's failure to chip in those extra runs was Gill's knock of 32 in 24 balls, with two fours and a six, striking at just over 133 on a batting paradise in Bengaluru.
Speaking during the ESPNCricinfo's 'Timeout' show, Bishop said that Sudharsan needed to step up with his aggression, which he did.
"He is one of the guys who needed to step up his aggression level. For the most part of that innings, I thought he was outstanding for a very orthodox player. I think that hundred would be very, very pleasing for him and for the GT dugout, and for the IPL as a whole, because here is another guy who gets another hundred - they have been coming in thick and fast in the last week and a half, has not it?" he said.
"He certainly did his part. If we are asking other guys that should have stepped up, at least Sai Sudarshan did his part," he added.
Former South African pacer Dale Steyn was also impressed with Sudharsan's knock, which largely consisted of shots hit on merit and brimming with orthodoxy associated with batters who would be more suited for the longer formats of the game.
"I just think he plays orthodox cricket, you know, like he plays good cricket shots; he hits the ball on merit," Steyn said. "He takes the ball on when he has to, he makes calculated risks, and it's not like he's running out there recklessly, swinging off his hip to try and score runs. [It was] similar to the way that [Sanju] Samson got his hundred the other night," he added.
I think it is calculated, you know, he knows exactly how and where he wants to score his runs, and then he puts on a show," he continued.
Bishop said that despite his consistency, Sudharsan does have his limitations and is not in the class of hitters like Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Abhishek Sharma.
"What I would say is, he has his limitations, right? I would not put him in the class of, let us say, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi or Abhishek Sharma. He is not that guy," Bishop said. "He does what he does. A hundred off 58 deliveries? Sanju got his 101 off 54 deliveries. So he does a particular job. I am not classifying him with the Travis Heads and the Abhishek Sharmas," he said.
"What they have to do with him is the other guys around him, the Jos Butlers, the Washington Sundars, have to come in and strike at, maybe, 160, 170 and above alongside Sai Sudharsan, whose game is improving. The team ethos has to be slightly different than maybe one or two of the other line-ups around," he signed off.
In seven IPL matches this year, Sudharsan has scored 235 runs at an average of 33.57, with a strike rate of 155.62, including a century and a fifty.