Sai Sudharsan thanks Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill for their unconditional support.

Indian Sai Sudharsan turns 50 (AP Photo) TimesofIndia.com in Mullanpur: On the eve of the one-off Test against Afghanistan, head coach Gautam Gambhir said that Sai Sudharsan would be given a “longer rope” and that the management had full faith in him to succeed at No.3. Sudharsan, who received two reprieve but missed out on what would have been his first Test set, scored a gritty 81.The Indian trio credited head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill for their unconditional support.“I think it gives so much freedom,” Sai told reporters when asked about the leadership’s vote of confidence.“It gives you so much confidence mentally when the coach, the team and the captain support you and support you and want you to do well for the team and win matches. So it’s such an honor in the first place. And of course it gives you a lot of freedom to express yourself and do what you do best, rather than thinking about scoring runs or thinking about whether you’re going to play the next match. Those thoughts never arise because you have great freedom,” he added.Sai Sudharsan was charming and nervous in equal measure during an attractive innings. He showcased his strengths with most of his 13 boundaries coming through the mid-wicket region. Sudharsan also shared a 139-run partnership for the second wicket with KL Rahul.The 24-year-old also spoke about partnering with the veteran opener.“The conversation was more about understanding what was going on, understanding how the wicket was behaving and who was bowling what. We weren’t thinking about taking a bigger role and batting deep. It was more about understanding the conditions. KL gives so much composure when I’m batting with him and gives a lot of confidence. As a batsman, it’s really helpful. He reads the game very well and shares a lot of useful knowledge while batting.The left-hander, who struggled with spin during the South Africa series, also opened up about the challenge and the mental and technical adjustments he had to make in preparation for this game, especially after playing IPL cricket for two-and-a-half months.“Mentally and tactically, for me, it was more about belief and trust in my ability as a batsman. Tactically, we had a lot of conversations about what we could do to disrupt the bowlers and what options we could take to keep the scoreboard moving, to keep the pressure on them, rather than just soaking it up and batting time,” he said.