Better runs and better humor - it's RCB's gain to give Suyash Prabhudessai the bat
You need a bit of sense of humor if you want to play for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the IPL. And that's not a sarcastic dig.
But when you build so many super teams, field the greatest players in the world, do everything right in every department and still fall short of the title, you also deserve to have a chuckle about it instead of getting more and more despondent.
The franchise seem to understand that too. Look at Mr. Nags (Danish Sait)'s skits or even interviews with Virat Kohli and how there's a culture of acknowledging adversity with an honesty not seen in most other teams.
That exact sense of humor is also deep in the nerves of Suyash Prabhudessai. It shows how the Goan middle-order-batter-plus-medium-pacer talks about managing pressure and the things not in his control. Not just that, he also carries a tenacity, adaptability, and the killer instincts RCB aspires to have in its players.
Prabhudessai showed all of it in his IPL debut for the franchise in 2022. Against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) he notched a fine 34 (18) from number six, though in a losing cause. He was dropped from the struggling batting lineup after some low scores but started 2023 with another good 19 (11) against the same opponent.
However, once again, good knocks in losses and single-digit scores in the team's wins led to a pink slip. Since then, though, his game for Goa has reached new levels.
In the recent Ranji Trophy, where his team went winless in a difficult group, Prabhudessai as an opener smashed 687 runs in 13 innings with three tons and two fifties at 57.25 - the best average by a long margin in his team.
It was the same in the Vijay Hazare Trophy -- 258 runs at 51.6 -- and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy -- 175 runs at 43.75 with a strike rate of 144.62. Playing across a variety of different positions and roles, he kept on piling the runs.
As RCB look forward to begin another season on March 22 against CSK, with most of their middle-order muddle problems yet to be solved, Sportskeeda got on a call with Prabhudessai to have a first-hand experience of his witty one-liners, discuss his batting order shift, the cricket culture in Goa and much more!
Excerpts from Suyash Prabhudessai's interview with Sportskeeda
How did your cricket journey start?
Suyash Prabhudessai: I come from a cricketing family. So my dad and his brothers own a club which is a well-recognized club in Goa (Tarvalem Cricket Club). They used to play and I used to go watch them play when I was around 4-5. That's how I got into it.
Then I started to play for the club when I was around 10-12 and that's when I decided I wanted to take the sport professionally and then I joined coaching classes. That's how it all started.
Were you always a middle-order hitter?
Suyash Prabhudessai: I was more of a top-order batsman who focused more on technique, and liked to play in the 'V'. I grew up learning straight-batted strokes. My coach and my parents always told me to keep playing along the ground, keep playing with a straight bat. So all my under-14, under-16, and under-19 days, I always played the soft hands and top the order.
So I was not always a hard-hitting batsman. But then, as I came into the senior side, you know, there was only one chance that I could fit in the team and it was around number five or six. Several senior players were batting up the order. And because I wanted to play in the 11, I had to change my game to know hard-hitting and become a lower-order batsman.
Swapnil Asnodkar in an interview with us said that he was very impressed by your preparation — what is your routine like usually? What do you do differently?
Suyash Prabhudessai: I remember talking to him three years back when I was playing for under-25. We had qualified for the playoffs at the time. He asked me about my routine as well. It's more about the visualization before the game. I used to get the names of the bowlers that I was going to face from the analyst.
In senior cricket, you know who you are going to play against. But at the under-25 and under-23 levels, you don't know many of the players because most of them are new. Even he asked me what I did differently from other players so I told him about the visualization and some other preparations I do for the bowlers I am going to face in the next game.
There's this swagger in how you approach your game and that shows in your social media posts as well — where does that come from?
Suyash Prabhudessai: It comes naturally. When you admire watching someone -- I grew up watching Rahul Dravid and now I am closely watching Virat Kohli. I don't try to copy but there are always some moments that I catch from them and it comes naturally. This might be the reason!
Goa doesn't get a lot of mainstream cricket reporting. How is the state’s cricket culture — the good part and the challenges (for example, sometimes not having enough game time)?
Suyash Prabhudessai: To talk about Goan culture, if you compare it with Karnataka and Mumbai, we are still improving, we are not at that level. But I think we are improving at a good speed now. And the support that we get from the association is very good. They keep motivating us. If someone is doing good for the state, they try to push the player to a higher level. The support that we get from the association especially is really good.
A lot of people in Goa don't follow cricket as compared to Karnataka and Mumbai. So I think that culture is still not there, but there's always a reason for it. We have not won any Ranji Trophy or any trophy yet. So I think once we start winning those games or some of the players from Goa start representing the country, that's going to attract more people from the state. I feel it's coming, it is going to come a few years down the line.
How do you look back at the 2024 season personally and team-wise?
Suyash Prabhudessai: It was very good for me personally but as a team, we didn't do that well. We could have won more games. But I think the good thing about the team was the belief was always there. Till the last match, we always had the belief, you know, like, 'This game, we are going to win'.
Unfortunately, we didn't win those games but as a team, we still believed that we are a strong unit, and on a given day, we could beat anyone because the talent we have is amazing. So yeah, personally, I liked the way I approached this season compared to the last season or even before that in all three formats. So for me, it was really good and there were a lot of learnings too.
Who initiated this conversation of us shifting to the top of the order, and it must have been a bit difficult for you right?
Suyash Prabhudessai: Last year, I was batting number three and this year, there was no other batsman who could open the inning. So my coach asked me if I would like to open, so I said, yeah. I mean, I didn't mind it. We didn't have any opener who could fit in the 11.
There were players in the 16 (the squad) but bringing them in would have left no place for our vice-captain (Deepraj Gaonkar) would have to be left out of the 11. So, it was a good chance for me to open the innings and set the tone for the team. And when the coach asked me, I said, 'Yeah, I'm ready for it.'
Does that complicate things for you a bit because I think you would be trying to nail that middle-order spot for RCB?
Suyash Prabhudessai: It does not, actually. It doesn't complicate much, because from my junior cricket, I have been playing in all the spots. It's not like I've always been in the top order or always been in the middle order.
So under-14, under-16 I opened the innings, and in the later part of my career, I batted in the middle-order. So I have been very flexible with my batting style and batting position. So no matter wherever I get a chance, I will be happy to be part of the playing 11. So, it's not very complicated for me.
You are just the fourth player from Goa to play in the IPL — does that bring a sense of pride for you?
Suyash Prabhudessai: Actually paying for IPL was always a goal for me because when I started playing, Swapnil and Shadab had already made their mark in the IPL. So yeah, it was, you know, one of the dreams that came through, but I feel it's still a long journey to go.
Your RCB debut was so good. Even though it came in a losing cause, it must have made you feel like ‘I belong here’, no?
Suyash Prabhudessai: Yeah, I mean, the start was really good and I enjoyed every bit of that moment. And I still have those moments in my mind. I mean that innings was really a confidence booster for me.
Your best knocks so far have come against CSK, which I have heard is your father's favorite IPL team. Is there a connection there? And what are the conversations like about that at home?
Suyash Prabhudessai: I know my best knocks have come against CSK but it's not because it's a particular team or anything. In both those innings, I remember having a clear target in my mind. It's nothing about CSK, all the games I have played were pretty similar [in how I approached them]. It's just that it all clicked the night I was playing CSK and it didn't click in other games.
There are no conversations, particularly about those games. Obviously, my father likes watching CSK games but he's not a big fan of CSK as such. He's also a RCB fan. There's not a particular team that we discuss about. [Our discussions] are mostly about my game, my batting, fielding and bowling.
It hasn't been very smooth sailing since the debut — it must have been difficult no? How have you changed and evolved as a batter in this time, technically and mentally?
Suyash Prabhudessai: Yeah, I mean, so far, I've played 10-odd innings for RCB and it didn't click much in the last few years, but you know, some innings that I've played some 15-20-30 crucial runs have taught me a lot and, you know, gave me that idea of what the team needs in what situation.
All credit to, obviously, the RCB management, because they've backed me throughout these three years. Although I have not given what I could have. So I think that gives me more confidence and the freedom to go there and express myself.
Have you set yourself any challenges or goals for the upcoming season?
Suyash Prabhudessai: Every season, we set one goal and that is how you can help your team win. The goal this season remains the same. I'll try my best to get the team out of tough situations and make it win more and more games.
Goa hasn't been able to display its best as a team in the Ranji for the last few years either but you have kind of been a silver lining due to your consistency. Even we journalists while following the scorecards like to look how you've been doing because we know who you are. Do you like that attention or does that ever bring some pressure that being an IPL player you need to keep doing it,
Suyash Prabhudessai: Yeah, so actually, I didn't know you guys followed my scores. But from now on, I'll take that little bit of extra pressure! (laughs)
One thing that I have really loved about your batting is how you play that sweep shot. Can you tell me how that came into your game, how you've prepared for it over the years and what do you look for when trying to play that shot?
Suyash Prabhudessai: Yes, the sweep shot was always my weapon but before this season, I was double-minded, agar mai out hogaya toh? (What if I get out?) and those thoughts used to run down in my mind. This off-season I practiced the sweep shot for a long time till I got it right, and I was very confident this season about the sweep shot because I had given it a good time and the practice was really good.
Even last year I was playing it well but there were a couple of times where I got out and it remained in my head that 'sweep shot is quite risky', but this season I was more confident playing it because of the preparations and the work I had put behind it in the off-season.
And what is the trigger you look for and the mentality - like some batters just wait for the right length and don’t worry about the line...
Suyash Prabhudessai: I use the sweep shot to alter the bowlers' length, especially if they keep bowling far. You can't just defend, you have to find a way to score.
If the bowler is slightly faster, just tap it lightly. if they're slow, swing the bat for power that’s what I have been practicing. Sweep for me is more of a predetermined shot and I use it to score runs and not to survive.
You have a handful of wickets in First Class but we don't see you bowl too often. Is it difficult to manage that with your batting?
Suyash Prabhudessai: As you said, I've got a couple of wickets but those were the crucial wickets, many partnership-breaking wickets. Like the last time I got Pujara out, Priyank Panchal out. All these are crucial wickets. I feel I can bowl those good crucial overs for the team. It's just that we always play with five-six bowlers so I hardly get a chance to bowl in domestic cricket.
But obviously, when I was the captain of my team in one-dayers, I used to bowl the 10-overs quota. So again, waiting for the captaincy so that I can bowl all my overs! I am just joking! (laughs)
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