Sai Sudarsan. (AFP photo)
Former Indian pacer Ravichandran Ashwin praised Sai Sudarsan for his brilliant knock for Gujarat Titans, highlighting the youngster’s clarity and understanding of his style of play despite the team’s narrow loss to Rajasthan Royals.Sudharsen played a fluent innings of 73 off 44 balls in the absence of regular skipper Shubman Gill, but the Gujarat Titans fell short in a high-scoring match at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday. Ashwin praised Sudarsan’s approach, noting how he adapts to responsibility. “Sai Sudharsen knew that Shubman would not play today, so he had to do the heavy lifting himself. The way he started showed that he understands his strengths.
He used pace well, worked the ball towards the third man, then played some good shots on the front foot. “He took on Jadeja right after coming into the attack, took advantage of the pace, and followed it up with a powerful knock,” Ashwin said on JioStar.Gill missed GT’s match against RR due to a muscle cramp, and Rashid Khan captained the team in his absence. Ashion feels that when Gill returns, his opening combination with Sudharsan will be key to GT moving forward.
“These are the areas of strength for Sudharsen, which he relies on, and he has got the results. He needs to play like this, do the innings, but at a good pace. For Gujarat Titans, Shubman Gill’s absence has been a big setback. So obviously, when Shubman returns, this opening set will be key for them to go forward again,” he added.
RR holds their nerve in a high-scoring clash
Rajasthan Royals continued their strong start to the season, recording their second successive win to move to the top of the points table with a good net run rate.
Defending a massive total of 210, Rajasthan were pushed to the brink by a late Gujarat attack, with Rashid Khan and Kagiso Rabada threatening a dramatic finish.Captain Ryan Parag revealed that the plan at the death was to attack the stumps quickly and deny the batsmen the space to free their arms. He admitted that there was short thinking in adjusting the bowling order but credited Dhruv Gurriel for suggesting that Jofra Archer bowl the penultimate ball.The decision was crucial, as Archer claimed the 19th over, using his pace and experience to keep Gujarat in check. Tusshar Deshpande then held his nerve in the final over, successfully defending 10 runs to secure victory.