Former Australian cricketer and veteran coach Tom Moody believes Gujarat Titans opening pair Sai Sudharsan and skipper Shubman Gill have learned the art of shifting through gears with a technique that allows them to weather any storm. Shubman (93*) and Sudharsan (108*) continued their searing form under Delhi’s scorching heat on an action-packed Sunday in the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). After Delhi blazed its way through the obstacles to set up a daunting 200-run target for Gujarat, the young Titans duo broke DC’s backbone with a sublime batting display.
The young sensations are the players across the ten franchises to score 600-plus runs in the current season. They figured out a blueprint for victory and executed it flawlessly to steer the Titans to the top of the table and a playoff spot by staging a 10-wicket triumph.
“I think the way they dovetail together as an opening pair, they seem to really understand each other’s game. One seems to fall in behind the other if one’s got off to a flier. So they cover each other, and there seems to be a pattern in that throughout the season. And just their traditional strokeplay,” Moody said on ESPNcricinfo Time Out.
Shubman’s and Sudharsan’s opening pair look easy on the eye, but their sublime performances are laced with power-hitting. GT captain has racked up 54 fours and 23 sixes this season, while Sudharsan boasts 68 boundaries and 20 maximums.
Sudharsan has the most fours struck by a player this season, while Rajasthan Royals’ Yashasvi Jaiswal is the only player to hit more fours than the GT skipper.
“What it shows you is the class of that batting pair. They are proper batters that have the technique that can weather any storm, but also… they have both developed this over time, they have learnt how to move through the gears. They may have only had three gears in previous years, but both of them have five gears they can shift to,” he added.
The 205 runs the duo combined to add against the Delhi Capitals were the best they have executed this season. Their success resonates in the 839 runs they have tallied together handsomely at 76.27.
“How do you build the pressure? By bowling dot balls. Those two are so good, not just in this game; if you see the other games also, where the pitches were a little tricky, they are so good [at] running between the wickets, that really makes their life easier,” former India spinner Piyush Chawla said.
“When you are bowling a good ball as a bowler, you look for a dot ball or a wicket. They turn that into a single. And when there is a ball to hit for a boundary, they are never missing those chances as well,” he added.
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