Gambhir’s faith gave me the freedom to speak: Sai credits India coach with 81 against AFG

Sai Sudharsan revealed that head coach Gautam Gambhir’s support gave him the confidence and clarity to play his natural game as the young batsman repaid that faith with a composed 81 on the opening day of India’s one-off Test against Afghanistan.

On the eve of the match, Gambhir threw his weight behind the Tamil Nadu left-hander, making it clear that six matches is not enough to judge a player’s ability and stressing that Sudharsan will be given a long rope as India continue to build towards the future.

IND VS AFG 1ST TEST DAY 1: MAIN | SCORECARD

The reassurance from the team management seemed to have the desired effect as Sudharsan played with confidence and purpose to help India recover from an early setback with a decisive 139 for the second wicket alongside KL Rahul.

speak in end of day game Sudharsan said that the confidence of the coach, captain and team management removed the doubts about the selection and allowed him to focus only on contributing to the side.

“I mean it gives so much freedom. It gives so much mental confidence that when the coach, the team and the captain support you, they support you and they want you to do well for the country. They want you to do well for the team and win games. It’s such an honor in the first place,” Sudharsan said.

“Obviously it gives you a lot of freedom to express yourself and do what you do best rather than thinking about, ‘Am I going to play the next game or not?’ or anything like that. This never happens because you have a lot of freedom from the team. I think it’s a pleasure.”

While Sudharsan’s innings was one of the standout performances of the day, the left-hander was quick to acknowledge Rahul’s role in helping him settle in the middle. The pair put on a 139-run partnership with Sudharsan contributing 81 before falling short of a century.

According to Sudharsan, the discussions with Rahul were more about understanding the conditions and staying one step ahead of the bowlers than deciding who would take charge of the scoring.

“The talk was more about understanding what was going on, understanding how the wicket behaved and who bowled what. With KL bhai, you know, he gives so much calmness. When I bat with him, he gives so much confidence. It helps as a batsman and he sees the game very well, so he gives a lot of useful cues that we would use in the game,” he said.

The change also came after the Indian batting unit spent considerable time discussing ways to improve against spin after their matches on the turning surfaces of South Africa. Sudharsan revealed that the emphasis was not just on surviving against the slow bowlers, but on finding scoring opportunities and keeping the pressure on the opposition.

“I think the biggest conversation has been how well we can play spin, how well we can understand the conditions and the score runs out, rather than just trying to play time. For me personally, mentally it’s been more about belief and confidence in my ability and what I can do as a batsman.”

“And tactically, we’ve had a lot of conversations about what we can do to disrupt pitchers, what options we can take to keep watching the scoreboard where the pressure is always, rather than just soaking it up and making plays.”

With Afghanistan expected to rely heavily on their spin attack throughout the match, Sudharsan believes the surface could become increasingly challenging for the batsmen in the coming days.

“I feel like it may start to rotate regularly in the next few days and it may be a little bit slower as well. Slower and lower is how I feel it’s behaving now.”

His rating will be encouraging for the Indian bowlers who are likely to find more help as the Test continues. But for Sudharsan, the opening day was another important step in establishing himself at the top level, rewarded with an innings that justified the faith Gambhir had publicly reposed in him ahead of the match.

– The end

Issued by:

Saurabh Kumar

Published on:

June 6, 2026 7:28 PM IST