Gujarat Titans’ Sai Sudharsan reacts after he gets hit-wicket against Rajasthan Royals. | Photo Credit: PTI

Shubman Gill fell to his knees at the non-striker’s end. It was simply inconceivable. After all, lightning isn’t supposed to strike twice, yet somehow it had.

Gujarat Titans had almost sealed victory in Qualifier 2 against Rajasthan Royals, but for the second match in a row, B. Sai Sudharsan, Gujarat Titans’ ever-consistent and prolific opening batter, had been dismissed hit-wicket, disturbing his own stumps with the bat by letting it slip out of his hands and roll onto the stumps. 

In fact, his dismissal was the third time he had been dismissed in such fashion in the IPL, making him the only batter to have been dismissed more than once hit-wicket. It is perhaps the only ignominious piece of history he holds in an IPL career largely known for breaking run-scoring records. 

Former India and Tamil Nadu batter WV Raman feels that Sudharsan’s dismissals are the result of poor luck rather than any major technical issues.

“For the time being, let’s leave it at describing those dismissals as bizarre,” he told Sportstar.

“Perhaps you can also attribute a bit of bad luck, because in the first game, it bounced off the ground onto the stumps, and in the second game it went straight over and onto the stumps directly,” he noted.

“These are things that obviously do not happen regularly and can’t really be attributed to any technical issues per se.”

Raman did note that conditions may have been a slight factor in Sudharsan’s misfortune, saying, “There’s also a strong possibility that gloves could have been very sweaty. With sweaty palms, the bat could have slipped out.”

Outside of his slightly self-destructive habit though, Sudharsan has been in top-notch form during this IPL. His 710-run season at an average of 47.33 and a strike-rate of 159.55 makes him just the second player in the history of the IPL to register consecutive seasons of 700+ runs after Chris Gayle for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2012 and 2013.

Raman attributes this consistency to Sudharsan knowing his game incredibly well. “He’s not trying to do anything different. He is playing to his strengths, and he’s also realised his limitations. That’s the key,” he noted. “To be as consistent as he’s been for the kind of player that he is in the T20 format is phenomenal. He’s proved that you can bat in a very conventional manner and also be highly successful with a healthy strike rate as well in T20s,” Raman said.

Along with Gill and Jos Buttler, he has piled on the runs at the top of the order and sits third in the Orange Cap standings heading into the final. Collectively, the trio has scored just shy of 2000 runs (nearly 70 per cent of its total runs), once again shouldering the responsibility for the run-scoring for the side.

“Those guys have been terrific. The top three of Gill, Buttler and Sudarshan have been fantastic because they’ve hardly given the middle order any game time! They seem to be sort of managing the 20 overs between the three of them,” Raman said glowingly.

“They are batting aggressively, but without taking too many risks, and they are also playing percentage cricket,” he explained. “When they place their bets, they are calculating well. They are taking calculated risks, and that’s the reason they are succeeding as consistently as they are. There’s a method to what they are doing, and they’re sticking to that method.”

And thus, there is one final challenge left, the IPL 2026 final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and GT will be hoping that Sai Sudharsan keeps his bat firmly in his hands, because when he does, he has used it to devastating effect that it will need to win its second IPL title.

Published on May 31, 2026