B Sai Sudharsan becomes 17th Indian batsman to hit fifty on ODI debut; Find out who are other 16

B Sai Sudharsan scored an unbeaten 55 runs off 43 balls with 6 fours and 1 six.

India dominated South Africa in the first ODI game played at Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. The visitors thrashed the hosts by 8 wickets as they got only 117 runs to chase. The visitors also took a lead of 1-0 in the ongoing three-match ODI series. Arshdeep Singh (5/37) and Avesh Khan (4/27) bowled magical spells to dismiss South African batter on just 116 runs total. B Sai Sudharshan had an impactful debut for India in ODIs. 

The left-handed batter became the 253rd player to make debut for India in ODIs. Sai Sudharshan scored 55 runs in his debut innings and became the 17th Indian batter to hit fifty on debut. Sai Sudharshan started his career with a bang as his first scoring shot came in his first-ever delivery. The left-hander played a classical cover drive in his first-ever delivery to get a boundary.  

B Sai Sudharshan 17th Indian batter to score fifty on debut

Overall 17 Indian players have scored more than fifty on their debut game for India starting with former Indian skipper Ajit Wadekar in 1974 against England. Wadekar’s teammate Brijesh Patel joined him in the same game and became the second Indian batter to score fifty on debut. KL Rahul is the only batter who went on to score a century on his ODI debut. Rahul scored an unbeaten 100 against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2016.

Indian player to score fifty or more on debut in ODI

1. Ajit Wadekar – 67 vs England in July 1974

2. Brijesh Patel – 82 vs England in July 1974 

3. Sandeep Patil – 64 vs Australia in December 1980 

4. Raman Lamba – 64 vs Australia in September 1986 

5. Navjot Sidhu – 73 vs Australia in Chennai October 1987 

6. Pravin Amre – 55 vs South Africa in November 1991

7. Saba Karim – 55 vs South Africa in January 1997 

8. Amey Khurasia – 57 vs Sri Lanka in March 1999 

9. Robin Uthappa – 86 vs England in April 2006 

10. Ravindra Jadeja – 60* vs Sri Lanka in February 2009 

11. Ambati Rayudu – 63* vs Zimbabwe in July 2013 

12. Manish Pandey – 71 vs Zimbabwe in July 2015 

13. KL Rahul – 100* vs Zimbabwe in June 2016 

14. Faiz Fazal – 55* vs Zimbabwe in June 2016 

15. Krunal Pandya – 58* vs England in March 2021

16. Ishan Kishan – 59 vs Sri Lanka in July 2021 

17. B Sai Sudharshan – 55* vs South Africa in December 2023 

India bundled out South Africa for just 116 runs with a great spell of fast bowling from Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan. Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh picked up his maiden ODI wicket as well as his maiden 5-wicket haul in the same game. While Avesh Khan also went on to pick 4 wickets in the game. Aiden Markram won the toss and elected to bat first in the game but South African batting line-up collapsed against Indian pace bowling. 

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