Sai Sudharsan earned himself a Test cap with how collected and polished he looked enroute to the Orange Cap and the Emerging Player Award in IPL 2025, striking 759 runs as he looked completely unflappable at the top of the order for Gujarat Titans.
His hope for the 2026 season will be to continue working on his game – a dip will be natural and almost expected, but as he begins his campaign against Punjab Kings on Tuesday evening, he will want to ensure it won’t be a severe one.
GT’s new batting coach is perhaps one of the most fearsome left-handed openers of all time, and working with Matthew Hayden is only likely to take Sudharsan from strength to strength. The Australian opener showered the 24-year-old with praise, impressed particularly by the workrate Sudharsan had shown in camps leading up to the season.
“You’ve just had Ricky Ponting in here. Ricky Ponting was one of the hardest working cricketers that I came across in my time. Sai Sudharsan would be a multiple of two, as to what Ricky did,” lavished Hayden comparing Sudharsan to the legendary Australian skipper who is recognised as one of the greatest batters in the history of the sport.
Sudharsan exemplifies ever-improving modern players
“Coming from a completely different mindset of the last two years, what I’ve seen is an immense resource that is afforded to players to continue to grow in their game,” he continued. “As Ricky said, you don’t get better doing something by doing less of it. And Sudharsan is a phenomenal example of that.”
For Hayden, Sudharsan stands as a shining example of how players have been able to have meteoric rises and work on their games like never before, while also maintaining a supreme level of dedication that ensures they are consistently taking a step up on levels.
“The professional level has gone up a complete notch since I retired. They improve by the day because they’re willing to invest time, and the game is willing to invest the resource. Not only the fitness but the batting techniques and batability, if you like,” said Hayden. “You see an evolution of a batsman now… there is a plethora of opportunity for players to get incrementally better, and Sai is one of those guys like Shubman who has embraced that.”
“It’s a privilege to watch how they go about their preparation,” said Hayden regarding Sudharsan and his opening partner and captain Shubman Gill, who is undoubtedly someone who belongs in that category as well.
Gujarat’s campaign will get underway with a trip to Mullanpur for a match against 2025 runners-up Punjab Kings, led by Hayden’s long-time teammate Ricky Ponting as coach. GT proved to be very dependent on their top order in 2025, and Sudharsan is set to be a key part of that once again.
