IPL 2025: Sai Sudharsan's outstanding 82 propels Gujarat Titans to 217/6

On a red-soil pitch, Sudharsan mixed inventiveness, timing, and placement in equal measure to enthrall everyone in his 53-ball stay at the crease, laced with eight fours and three sixes in front of and behind the square. He also shared stands of 80 and 62 with Jos Buttler and Shahrukh Khan, who made 36 each. Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan smashed brilliant cameos at the end to take the Gujarat Titans (GT) to a solid total.

After electing to bowl first, Jofra Archer was fast and furious in his spell, including even clocking 152.3 kmph. Luckily, Sudharsan got a top edge on the pull, before blasting Fazalhaq Farooqi through the square boundary on the off-side for two boundaries. But Archer struck when he got a 148 kmph scorcher to castle Shubman Gill through the gate for two.

Buttler countered Archer’s fire by driving him through cover for four before Sudharsan was at his inventive best in ramping Farooqi and lapping Tushar Deshpande for two sixes. Sudharsan wowed everyone with his timing and placement by unfurling a straight drive and a late cut off Deshpande for two boundaries, as GT closed power-play at 56/1.

Buttler’s sublime run continued when he scooped and pulled Farooqi for back-to-back boundaries, before unleashing a backfoot drive and hitting over Maheesh Theekshana’s head for the same result. After slog-sweeping Theekshana for four, Sudharsan got his fifty in 32 balls, though the off-spinner had Buttler trapped lbw for 36 while trying to pull.

With Sudharsan going great, Shahrukh injected some more momentum by taking back-to-back fours off Farooqi, before lofting Deshpande for six. He then pulled Theekshana for six, before getting a brace of boundaries via inside and outside edges. But Shahrukh missed a full and wide delivery from Theekshana, and was stumped for 36 by Samson.

The wide line again worked for RR as Sherfane Rutherford gave a thin edge behind off Sandeep Sharma. Sudharsan flexed his muscles by slicing and driving Sandeep for back-to-back boundaries, before nicking behind off Deshpande for 82, after being dropped on 81.

Deshpande struck again on his last ball when a rampaging Rashid was caught by a diving backward square leg. By then, GT had crossed 200, and Tewatia smacked two fours and a six to ensure GT ended with another tall total.

Brief scores:

Gujarat Titans 217/6 in 20 overs (B. Sai Sudharsan 82, Shahrukh Khan 36; Maheesh Theekshana 2-54, Jofra Archer 1-30) against Rajasthan Royals