IND vs SA: Ravichandran Ashwin's big statement after Sai Sudharsan's fifty on India debut - 'Mark my words...'

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IND vs SA: Ravichandran Ashwin has heaped praises on Sai Sudharsan who made his debut for India in the first ODI against South Africa at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday.

The 22-year-old opener looked ultra-confident in his debut innings and played some mind-boggling shots to hit an unbeaten fifty. The southpaw smashed nine fifties during his 43-ball knock which saw him score 55 runs.

Sai Sudharsan and Shreyas Iyer (52 off 45) partnered for 88 runs off 73 balls as India chased down the 117-run target in just 16.4 overs and won the match by a thumping 8-wicket margin.

Ravichandran Ashwin took to X and praised Sai Sudharsan who comes from his hometown Chennai in Tamil Nadu. Ashwin predicted an extra-ordinary future for Sudharsan, before highlighting that the youngster has impressed in Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), Ranji Trophy, IPL, county cricket and for India A as well before making a sensational debut for the senior team.

"Like Mozhi MS Bhaskar ( movie reference ), I have been repeatedly telling this about Sai Sudharsan. Mark my words, this boy will go places'. Ever since his 2021 TNPL debut, he hasn't looked back. Keep chasing excellence, my boy," Ashwin wrote.

Sai Sudharsan made his first-class debut for Tamil Nadu in December 2022. Since then he has played 12 first-class matches and scored 843 runs at an average of 42.15. He has hit two hundreds and three fifties in the format.

His List A career of 26 matches has seen him score 1324 runs at an average of 63.04. He has six hundreds and five fifties to his name in 50-over cricket. Further, in 31 T20 matches, Sudharsan has scored 976 runs at an average of 37.53 and a strike rate of 125.61. He scored 96 runs for Gujarat Titans (GT) in the IPL 2023 final against Chennai Super Kings (CSK).