Two young Indian batters performing well in the IPL is a delightful sight, especially when circumstances are less than ideal. The Gujarat Titans found themselves at the bottom of the points table, facing off against the fourth-placed Chennai Super Kings. With the odds stacked against them and the toss not in their favour, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan managed to turn the tables, dominating the CSK bowlers with an exceptional batting display.
Reinstated as the opening pair after five matches, they formed a formidable partnership of 210 runs for the first wicket, with both scoring centuries. This marked only the sixth instance of a 200-plus stand in IPL history, and the second for the opening wicket. Their success was aided by favourable conditions – they played on a fresh wicket rather than a used track, and faced a weakened CSK bowling attack.
Gujarat’s typically slow strike-rate was not an issue on Friday night in Ahmedabad. Instead, they maintained a consistently high run-rate throughout the innings. Despite being known as slow starters, the GT openers aggressively took on the CSK bowlers from the outset, amassing 58 runs in the first six overs – GT’s second-best Powerplay score of the season. Throughout the innings, the run-rate never dropped below 9.2. In the middle overs (7-15), they scored 132 runs, the highest tally in an innings in this IPL season.
Also Read: Gill and Sai slam tons, Mohit put the finishing touches in GT’s win over CSK
With the exception of the seventh over from Daryl Mitchell, the batters consistently found boundaries, amassing 88 runs from fours and sixes. Their approach was calculated, focusing on rotating the strike and finding gaps rather than resorting to wild slogging. Sudharsan, in particular, capitalised on the match-up against spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner, striking at a rate of 300 against left-arm orthodox spin. Gill, on the other hand, was particularly brutal against Simarjeet Singh and Mitchell.
Their dominant performance during the middle overs mirrored the Powerplay onslaught seen from Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma earlier in the tournament. However, the key distinction lay in the approach: while the SRH openers opted for aggressive hitting with minimal running, Gill and Sudharsan balanced aggression with caution.
A good win for the Titans! #IPL2024 pic.twitter.com/mhvlkpcW5o
— RevSportz (@RevSportz) May 10, 2024
Gill reached his 50-ball century by dispatching a full toss from Simarjeet, marking the fourth hundred of his IPL career. Following suit, Sudharsan achieved his maiden IPL ton in 50 balls, sealing it with a slog sweep off Simarjeet. However, Sudharsan’s innings came to an end as he attempted another big shot, departing after establishing the joint-best opening partnership in IPL history.
GT’s fearless batting approach was a breath of fresh air in a season where they had the worst scoring rate in the powerplay and middle overs. It was a batting masterclass in every sense from the young GT batters. Their efforts propelled their team to victory and kept alive their slim hopes of play-off qualification.
Also Read: Vintage Dhoni, but too little of it