Gujarat Titans’ investment in B. Sai Sudharsan is paying off handsomely. He was bought for his base price of Rs. 20 lakh by GT for its maiden season. He was retained ahead of this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) for Rs. 8.5 crore. His reputation as one of India’s finest young batters continues to grow just as impressively.
Sai Surdarshan on Wednesday night gave another exhibition of his exceptional skills as a top-order batter. The left-handed opener from Tamil Nadu made a sparkling 82 off 53 balls (8×4, 3×6) to help the Titans post their fourth win in a row.
Chasing 218, Rajasthan Royals could make only 159, the host thus winning by 58 runs.
This was the third fifty of the season in five innings for Sai Sudharsan; he had struck 49 in another. He lost his opening partner Shubman Gill early though. The GT captain was bowled by the pace and movement of Jofra Archer, who has been on a remarkable comeback after his disastrous, record-breaking spell against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
AS IT HAPPENED | GT vs RR Highlights
Sudharsan was, however, given perfect company by Jos Buttler, on whom there was much focus as the England batter was making his first appearance against his old team for which he had scored more than 3,000 runs.
The duo put on 80 for the second wicket before Buttler (36, 25b, 5×4) fell lbw, on review, to Maheesh Theekshana.
Sudharasan continued to pace his innings superbly. And he displayed a wide array of strokes around the park, as he drove, cut and lofted with relish.
There was some hard-hitting by middle-order batters in M. Shahrukh Khan (36, 20b, 4×4, 2×6) and Rahul Tewatia (24 not out, 12b) to ensure GT made enough runs after being asked to bat first.
The Royals needed a bright start if they were to chase down the stiff target. But they lost two early wickets, and though skipper Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag added 48 for the third wicket, it was always going to be a tough ask.
Shimron Hetmyer (52, 32b, 4×4, 3×6) did make an attempt, though, before he became one of Prasidh Krishna’s three scalps.