Gambhir's statement provided certainty mentally: Sudharsan

MULLANPUR: Head coach Gautam Gambhir's vote of confidence has given young Sai Sudharsan freedom to express himself, something that comes with a lot of mental assurance.

On the eve of the one-off Test against Afghanistan, Gambhir made it clear that the Tamil Nadu left-hander would get a long rope as six games aren't enough to judge someone's talent while trying to build a team.

Sudharsan repaid the head coach's faith with an attractive 81 on the opening day of the match.

"I mean, it gives so much freedom. It gives so much certainty mentally that when the coach, the team, and the captain support you, back you, and want you to do well for the country. They want you to do well for the team and win games. It is such an honour at (the) first place," Sudharsan said at the day-end press conference.

"Obviously, it gives a lot of freedom for you to express yourself and do what you can do at your best, rather than thinking about "will I play the next game or not?" or whatever thought of that sort. That never arises because you've got great freedom from the team. I think it's a pleasure." Sudharsan put on a 139-run stand with KL Rahul for the second wicket in which his share was 81 but it was not about being a dominant partner, asserted Sudharsan.

"The conversation was more about understanding what was happening, understanding how the wicket was behaving, and who was bowling what. With KL bhai, you know, he gives so much composure. When I bat with him, he gives so much certainty. It helps as a batter, and he sees the game very well, so he gives a lot of useful cues which we would use in the game," Sudharsan said.

The Indian team struggled against South Africa on spin-friendly tracks and the conversation on the day hovered around how they can dominate slow bowlers rather than play time.

"I think the biggest conversation was around how well we can play spin, how well we can understand the conditions, and score runs out of it rather than just looking to play time. Personally, for me, mentally it was more about believing and trusting my abilities and what I can do as a batsman.

"And tactically, we were having a lot of conversations around what we can do to disturb the bowler, what options can we take so that we keep on ticking the scoreboard where the pressure is always there, rather than just soaking up and playing time." Sudharsan reckoned that odd balls are keeping low with the wicket would offering more turn from the second day albeit slowish in nature.

"I feel it can start spinning regularly in the coming days and it can get a bit slower as well. Slower and lower as well, is what I feel the way it's behaving now."