Michael Clarke praised Sai Sudharsan after he ended as the leading run-getter in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025), scoring 759 runs from 15 innings at an average of 54.21.
Sudharsan gained his first Test call-up last month, when he was named to India’s squad for the upcoming five-match series against England in the United Kingdom. The southpaw has played 29 first-class games for Tamil Nadu, scoring 1957 runs at an average of 39.93.
Clarke believes the 23-year-old has the skill to bat at No. 3 for India in red-ball cricket and possesses all of the shots required to flourish in the role. The former Australian captain also mentioned that Sudharsan is mentally prepared for the task.
“To me, Sai Sudharsan is a superstar. I believe he is a number three in Test cricket. I believe he will eventually open the batting for India in T20Is and ODIs. He is on their Test squad. “He gets his first chance in England,” Clarke remarked on the Beyond23 Cricket Podcast.
“I believe he can go straight to bat at number three. I believe he is technically proficient, has all of his shots, and is mentally prepared. He really pleased me, and he’s also a good-looking player,” he said.
Michael Clarke rates Kuldeep Yadav as the best bowler of the tournament
Kuldeep Yadav finished IPL 2025 with 15 wickets from 14 matches. As many as 16 bowlers took more wickets than him in the cash-rich league. However, Clarke rated him as the best bowler of the tournament, highlighting his ability to read the batters and toss the ball up to look for wickets instead of only trying to put the brakes on the scoring. The 44-year-old feels that Yadav should start as India’s first-choice spinner against England.
“He wasn’t the leading wicket-taker, but to me Kuldeep Yadav. He should be India’s number one pick spinner. In England, he is my first pick spinner. He is playing he is a wicket-taker, he is an X factor,” the former Australia captain continued.
He was my bowler of the tournament. I think his reading of batters has improved out of sight. His courageousness to still the toss the ball up to attack to take the wickets. I loved watching him bowl and he bowled at the hardest times,” Clarke concluded.
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