[Watch] Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan reach their respective tons with boundaries in GT vs CSK IPL 2024 clashÂ
Gujarat Titans (GT) opening batters Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan notched up hundreds in a historic display against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the ongoing 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday, May 10. The pair now hold the joint-highest opening partnership in the competition's history.
Sudharsan once again got an opportunity to open the batting following Wriddhiman Saha's injury. With Gill, the left-hand-right-hand opening combination was in full flow right from the word go.
The skipper played the aggressor initially, taking on the makeshift CSK bowling attack. Sai Sudharsan grew into the contest, and switched gears effortlessly after settling down. The pair put on 58 runs in the powerplay, before going berserk in the middle overs.
The duo recorded the highest partnership for any wicket in franchise history, but they were far from done. Gill and Sudharsan had a statement to make and an unfinished business, respectively.
The skipper reached his hundred with a boundary after Simarjeet Singh bowled a fulltoss. He dispatched the ball to deep square leg, and screamed at the top of his lungs, taking out all the frustration of his recent lean run and the snub from Team India's squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Sai Sudharsan, on the other hand, had missed out on his maiden IPL ton in the 2023 IPL final at the same venue against the same opposition. However, there was no chance that he was going to miss out this time around. The left-handed batter reached the three-figure mark with an audacious shot over the fine-leg boundary in the very same over. His celebration was very subdued compared to Gill's
Have a look at how both the batters reached the landmark figure:
The duo put on 210 runs for the opening wicket, equalling the record set by the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) opening pair of KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 2022 edition.
Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill were dismissed in the same over by Tushar Deshpande
The duo were struggling to capitalise on the death overs after having played from ball one, and eventually perished to tired shots in the 18th over against Tushar Deshpande.
"The wicket is great to bat on. We can never say how much is enough. Mixing it well and going wider will be a great option. It will be a great game. Little bit at the start, it was sticking. Going forward, it got better. Compared to the seam-up balls, the slower ones are gripping a little," Sai Sudharsan said during the innings break.
GT posted 231/3 on the board on the back of that dominating display in the first innings.