Good morning! It’s Wednesday, the IPL standings are in complete disarray, and even 16 points may not be enough to guarantee a spot in the playoffs. Gujarat Titans have managed to climb into that zone, but they’ll know plenty of teams are still nipping at their heels. Welcome to your Cricbuzz Pulse—your quick, two-minute walkthrough of what matters across the IPL universe.
Last night in five lines
Gujarat Titans started their chase of control with a 34/2 Powerplay, which also marked their slowest opening phase of the season. Sai Sudharsan and Washington Sundar steadied the innings with half-centuries—Sundar doing it off just 33 deliveries on what was described as a tacky surface—helping the innings rebuild after the early wobble. A total of 168 might have looked slightly light, but it proved to be more than sufficient. Mohammad Siraj and Kagiso Rabada struck early and repeatedly, drawing edges in a manner that felt almost Test-like in Ahmedabad. SRH were bowled out for 86, their lowest all-out total in IPL history, and it handed GT their biggest win ever.
Oh, that happened
Salil Arora produced a moment that will be replayed for a long time: he defended the ball, watched it trickle back towards the stumps, and the ball rolled onto them but somehow refused to dislodge the bails—leaving the batter’s dismissal in the balance for a strange beat.
“Buy a lottery ticket,” said Pommie Mbangwa on air.
Pulse awards
Gujarat Titans pick up the “is-that-purple-or-blue” award for bringing lavender into men’s wardrobes—and making it seem like a winning tactical choice. They also receive the “slow-cooker” tag for taking their time early and still managing to serve up a total that was more than adequate. Washington Sundar earns the “middle-management” award for stepping in when the situation looked shaky, quietly restoring order without turning it into a personal spotlight. Siraj and Rabada share the “i-don’t-have-your-back” award for missing chances at the catch end of things off each other’s bowling, and then—despite that—still dismantling the entire batting lineup.
Talking point
In a league that’s increasingly shaped by batting fireworks, Gujarat are winning “almost entirely” through their bowling approach. They’ve now strung together five consecutive victories, and in each of those games opponents have been held below 170. Bowling contributions are also driving their Player of the Match haul: 7 of their 8 such awards have come to players for bowling performances. The new-ball duo of Siraj and Rabada has set the tone, topping Powerplay wicket charts with 25 wickets at an astonishing strike rate of 17.2. The plan is straightforward, but the execution is relentless: 84.3% of their deliveries in the Powerplay are described as hard lengths, and that discipline remains even in the middle overs, where 68.1% still land on hard lengths—figures among the highest in the competition.
The chatter
Shubman Gill said Gujarat knew that if they got anywhere close to 160–170, it would be difficult for the opposition to handle the wicket. Rabada added that the pitch became “a little bit sticky” and “really got hard for the batters,” while also pointing out that the bowling side “showed how to bowl on it” and they simply tried to follow that example. Pat Cummins conceded that SRH “didn’t really give us much to score,” calling it “as good as T20 bowling as you’re going to see,” and said it looked like a “pretty tough wicket once you hit that back of a length.”
SRH head coach Dan Vettori referred to the result as “a blip.” He said they understood they needed a strong start and “we didn’t get it,” but insisted, “I don’t put any blame on the batting unit, they’ve been exceptional this year.”
Stat snack
This is the first occasion since 2024 that SRH failed to chase a target under 200 in IPL.
Gossip column
Some “Birdies” chatter claims Shubman Gill’s moustache is currently the most carefully maintained item in the Gujarat Titans camp—impeccably trimmed, suspiciously perfect, and showing up in peak form every match. And because Gujarat are continuing to win, the question hangs in the air: coincidence, or a hidden superstition?
Tonight’s watchlist
It’s RCB’s match day, and the excitement is obvious as they take on KKR. It’s also one of those rivalries with history behind it. The key questions: will the surface be sticky again? Can Virat Kohli produce a meaningful score for the Raipur faithful? And will Varun Chakravarthy find a way to be unplayable on that kind of pitch?
Reckless prediction
With Krunal Pandya not facing a bouncer in this game, Venkatesh Iyer is tipped to bring up IPL’s fastest fifty against his former team.
