Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin praised Sai Sudharsan’s innings for Gujarat Titans, explaining that the youngster’s start showed he fully understood what he needed to do with captain Shubman Gill unavailable. Sudharsan struck a polished 73 off 44 deliveries, but wickets arriving at crucial moments meant the Titans could not convert their efforts, and they suffered a painful loss in their opening home match of the campaign at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday evening.
Ashwin highlighted the mindset Sudharsan brought to the crease, noting that knowing Gill was absent placed the responsibility squarely on his shoulders. “Sai Sudharsan knew that Shubman wasn’t playing today, so he had to do the heavy lifting himself. The way he started showed that he understands his strengths. He used pace well, steering the ball towards third man, and then played some crisp cover drives off the front foot. He even took on Jadeja as soon as he came into the attack—made use of the pace and then finished the sequence with a slog sweep,” Ashwin said on JioStar.
Gill missed the Titans’ match against Rajasthan Royals due to a muscle spasm, and Rashid Khan captained the side in his absence. Ashwin believes that once Gill returns, the opening partnership between the skipper and Sudharsan will be central to Gujarat’s progress. “These are the strong areas for Sudharsan, which he relies on, and he got the results. He needs to play like this and carry the innings, but at a good tempo. And for the Gujarat Titans, missing Shubman Gill was a big setback. So obviously, when Shubman returns, this opening combination will be key for them going forward yet again,” he added.
Rajasthan’s chase set off another wave of momentum after they secured a thrilling win over Gujarat, marking their second straight success. After defeating Chennai Super Kings comfortably in their opening game, the Royals sit at the top of the table with four points and a net run rate of 2.233, the best figure among all teams so far.
Rajasthan had to stay composed while defending 210 as Gujarat pushed hard in the final stages. With Rashid Khan and Kagiso Rabada stepping up, the contest hung in the balance as the match moved into the last two overs. Speaking about the plan, stand-in skipper Riyan Parag said the strategy was to attack the stumps with pace and prevent the batters from settling in and extending their arms freely.
Parag also explained that he initially weighed changing the bowling rotation at the death, but ultimately kept Jofra Archer for the penultimate over following a timely suggestion from Dhruv Jurel. The final over was then handed to Tushar Deshpande, who managed to defend 10 runs and complete a second consecutive win for his team.
Irfan Pathan, a former all-rounder, felt the victory—along with a couple of decisive calls late in the match—would strengthen Parag’s confidence as captain. “This was the best game of the season so far. It was very important for Rajasthan that Riyan Parag commanded that respect while leading the side. He made that difficult call in the last over, and that decision went in favour of Rajasthan, which will give him a lot of confidence as a leader. He went to Jofra Archer to bowl the 19th over, and generally, you go with your more experienced bowler in the penultimate over,” Pathan said.
Pathan went on to underline how Archer’s execution shaped the finish, before crediting Deshpande for holding his nerve. “Jofra used his experience, used his pace, and didn’t give any room to either Rabada or Rashid Khan, who were going strong. That over set it up nicely for Tushar Deshpande, because if GT had gotten 10 runs off it, the game would have been done then. It was a special over from Jofra. And credit to Tushar Deshpande, who held his nerve and bowled accurate yorkers, one after the other, to get his side home,” Pathan concluded.
