India vs South Africa: Sai Sudharsan arrives at big stage, Arshdeep Singh's five-fer and other takeaways from 1st ODI

A new-look Team India got the better of South Africa to begin the three-match ODI series on a winning note in Johannesburg on Sunday. Before the series, the focus had been on youngsters and how they would perform for the Men in Blue in overseas conditions.

India, led by KL Rahul, took up the challenge with open arms, so much so that Arshdeep Singh (5/37) and Avesh Khan (4/27) would help them rattle the Proteas out for 116. In reply, Shreyas Iyer (52) and Sai Sudharsan (55 not out) made light work of the chase as India won with eight wickets to spare.

We now take a look at key takeaways from the first South Africa-India ODI:

Sai Sudharsan arrives in style

He had proven his mettle with Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and an international debut was just in the horizon for 22-year-old Sai Sudharsan.

Sublime, silken strokes characterised .@sais_1509‘s debut innings of 55* (43) in difficult conditions, against #SouthAfrica‘s vaunted pace attack.

He looks like one for the future already!

Tune-in to the 2nd #SAvIND ODI
DEC 19, 4.30 PM | Star Sports Network#Cricket pic.twitter.com/fGIl1SdHQY

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) December 17, 2023

India may have just begun their experimentation towards the 2027 ODI World Cup, which is still four years away, but it’s important to get certain aspects of the team right. Sunday proved that Sai Sudharsan’s audition for the openers’ role was one of those right things for the Men in Blue.

Sudharsan lost his partner Ruturaj Gaikwad at the other end as early as in the fourth over, but the youngster from Chennai seemed unperturbed. He opened his account in international cricket with a boundary, driving through the covers with an open face of the bat. Those extra cover drives were a thing of beauty from Sai Sudharsan and he would go onto reach his fifty off 41 balls.

Sudharsan was involved in an 88-run stand with Shreyas Iyer for the second wicket, something that would set the platform for India’s seamless victory.

Arshdeep Singh finally delivers

For a considerable amount of time, while Arshdeep Singh has been pipped to become India’s premier death bowler in the future, he had been struggling with line and lengths of his deliveries, especially in T20Is.

W W W W W!