India’s rookie batter Sai Sudharsan was delighted after he received a maiden call-up in India’s ODI squad for the three-match series against South Africa. The Tamil Nadu batter has impressed while playing for Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League.

The left-hander has scored 507 runs in 13 IPL matches at an impressive average of 46.09 and a blistering strike rate of 137.03. The young southpaw had scored a fine knock of 96 runs in the IPL 2023 final against Chennai Super Kings. After his impressive performances in the last season, he was retained by Gujarat Titans ahead of the IPL 2024 mini-auction.

“It is a great feeling, and I am a bit lost for words. It is a dream come true for me, but at the same time, this is just the beginning, and there are many areas where I need to improve,” Sai Sudarsan told Sportstar in an interview on Thursday.

In fact, the left-hander was brought for his base price of INR 20 lakhs by Gujarat Titans and he was able to prove his mettle.

On the other hand, the youngster also played for Surrey in the 2023 County Championship, and he feels he has learned a lot after playing in English conditions.

“I learnt a lot playing in all these tournaments, and the exposure it has given me has helped me improve as a batter,” Sudarsan said about his 2-match County stint.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu will take on Punjab in the ongoing Vijay Hazare trophy on Friday and Sudharsan said he wants to keep up the good show.

“But my first goal is to just focus on my match tomorrow (Friday) against Punjab and help the team qualify for the knockouts,” he further added.

India ODI Squad for SA Tour

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Tilak Varma, Rajat Patidar, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (C)(wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar.