Former Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan praised Gujarat Titans’ opening pair of Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan after their seven-wicket win against Rajasthan Royals at New Chandigarh on Friday.
Chasing 215 runs for a place in the final, GT openers scored 69 runs in the Powerplay overs. Gill and Sudharsan continued their rich form, adding 167 runs off 77 balls for their opening alliance. This was their 11th century-run stand and now they have leapfrogged Virat Kohli-AB de Villiers’ record of 10 century-run partnerships.
While Gill scored a match-winning knock of 104 runs off just 53 balls against RR, Sai scored another impressive knock of 58 runs off 32 balls.
Zaheer Khan said on Cricbuzz, “Their overdependence on them never really disappoints GT. You know, that’s the beauty of it. I think on the whole, when you look at the most runs scored in the tournament, you have the top three playing today. You have Vaibhav, Sai Sudharsan, you have Shubman Gill. I think the advantage GT had is that there are two of them who are in sublime form and making sure, when it matters the most, they deliver for the team.
“That partnership pretty much dominated the run chase. Made it so easy and swift for Gujarat Titans to go through. It’s just amazing, isn’t it, how these two understand each other. They’ve been stitching 100-plus partnerships pretty consistently, and I think we often talk about the template which Gujarat Titans have, and these two players are such important parts of that whole template for it to work,” he added.
On the other hand, former Indian spinner Murali Kartik also praised the opening batting duo and said the pair has the right chemistry.
He said in the same discussion, “The openers putting together a wonderful partnership, just the way they play, just the way they dovetail, just the way they play second fiddle to one another when required depending on the situation. If one is out of the gates quickly, the other one tends to go quiet. If Sai Sudharsan goes, then it’s Shubman Gill. So they understand each other. I think that is what has stood for them in whatever partnerships that they have had.”
Sudharshan has scored 710 runs in 16 games, whereas Gill has accumulated 722 runs in 15 matches of IPL 2026.
