IND vs SA: Indian star Sai Sudharsan displayed an impressive performance with the bat on his India debut as he scored an unbeaten fifty in India's 8-wicket win over South Africa in the 1st ODI. The Gujarat Titans left-handed batter scored 55* in India's chase of 117 as India took a 1-0 lead in the first of the three-match series on Sunday in Johannesburg. Sudharsan now joins an elite list of Indian players like KL Rahul and Robin Uthappa among others.
Sudharsan opened the innings for India and even though the Men in Blue lost Ruturaj Gaikwad early, he held one end up alongside Shreyas Iyer in an 88-run stand to take India on the door of a huge win. While Iyer got out after hitting a fifty, Sai carried his bat with a scoreline of 55 runs from 43 balls as India won with 200 balls to go. This feat makes him join an elite list of Indian cricketers.
Sudharsan fourth Indian opener to THIS feat
Sudharsan has now become only the fourth Indian opener to score 50+ runs on ODI debut. He joins the list featuring players like Robin Uthappa, KL Rahul and Faiz Fazal. This is the joint third-highest score by an Indian opener on ODI debut, equal with the score of Fazal.
Highest scores by Indian openers on ODI debut
100* - by KL Rahul in 2016 vs ZIM
86 - by Robin Uthappa in 2006 vs ENG
55* - by Sai Sudharsan in 2023 vs SA
55* - by Faiz Fazal in 2016 vs ZIM
Arshdeep, and Avesh create records too
The Indians bowled South Africa out cheaply for 116 as Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan starred for the Men in Blue. Arshdeep became the first Indian pacer to take a five-wicket haul against South Africa, while Avesh also got four wickets. The duo combined to take nine wickets out of ten in the opening ODI which is the most by Indian pacers against South Africa in the 50-over contests. Indian speedsters previously took 8 wickets against South Africa in ODIs in 1993 and 2013.
