County stint has helped me tackle the swinging and seaming deliveries Premium

B. Sai Sudharsan discusses his cricket career, focusing on the importance of basics, routines, and playing in different conditions.

B. Sai Sudharsan is one cricketer whose stock has risen meteorically in the last few years. The Tamil Nadu left-hander, who made his India debut last year, represented India-C in the recently concluded Duleep Trophy. In a chat at the Rural Development Trust (RDT) Stadium B-ground in Anantapur recently, he spoke at length about his career and ambitions. Excerpts:

Actually, underarm and drop ball are very difficult to play. For that, basics are more important. If things are right, only then you can play underarm and the drop ball well. Otherwise, you will find it difficult to execute every ball well. I follow a lot of routines while facing underarm, a few things I have learnt over a period of years. So, I had been working on that.

Yes. Whenever I go back after a tournament or whenever I play between matches, I try and play a lot of underarm, so that all my basics are always right.

Drop ball is basically a person feeding you, just drops the ball. It won’t be like underarm. He will stand near you. He will just drop the ball like that. It’s a kind of a drill.

I said I have a routine. When I face underarm, I will focus more on the balance. I will focus more on alignment. Focus more on timing. Focus more on very small things. Like, being more smoother, shoulders working together, wrists working together. Very small, small things. But I think it helps your batting and the basics will always be intact. It won’t change over a period of time.

Because, we also play T20 and one-day cricket. We play in different conditions. Because of that, the requirement is as such that it (the basics) tends to change. So, whenever we come back, I try and work on the basics more.

It’s a very vast question. I feel that earlier when I used to play in swinging or seaming conditions, I used to have that kind of fear where there is a newness whenever I go in. But over a period of time now... last year, one month I spent (in England). This year, a few times I went. Two months ago, I went for one game, and now I went for two games. I feel because of that the familiarity of the balls is there. If you go there, every ball swings. Every other ball swings. Every other ball seams off the wicket. So, (there’s the development of) the habit of playing according to that, rather than getting surprised when we come in.