Tamil Nadu batter Sai Sudharsan received huge praise from former India captain Anil Kumble after his amazing unbeaten 62 helped Gujarat Titans (GT) win their second match in the ongoing IPL 2023 against Delhi Capitals (DC) on April 4.
Delhi Capitals was asked to bat first by GT captain Hardik Pandya after he won the toss. Thanks to 37 from David Warner, 30 from Sarfaraz Khan and 36 from Akshar Patel, DC managed to put 162/8 in 20 overs on a tough pitch to bat.
In reply, GT found themselves in trouble when both openers Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha got out for 14 runs each. And then Hardik Pandya got out for 5 runs. But then Sai Sudharsan first stabilized the innings with Vijay Shankar (29) and then took his team to victory with David Miller (31* in 16 balls).
Sai Sudharsan was rightly named the Player of the Match for his amazing 62* as GT winning by six wickets with 11 balls to spare on Tuesday.
Anil Kumble praised the 21-year-old left-hander for his innings and called him a very organized player.
IPL 2023: 'Sai Sudharsan has all the makings of becoming a top-level player'- Sunil Gavaskar
"He looked like a very organized player. Good against fast bowling, good against swing. He came into the first game as an impact player and certainly created an impact, he played a cameo. Today, it was three down and all the big stars were gone. Shubman Gill was gone, (Wriddhiman) Saha got out, and his captain Hardik Pandya got out. Both the Tamil Nadu guys (Vijay Shankar and Sudharsan) got together and put together a partnership,” Kumble said on the official digital broadcaster JioCinema.
For GT, Mohammed Shami (3/41 in 4 overs) and Alzarri Joseph (2/29 in 4 overs) were brilliant in the first 10 overs and then Rashid Khan (3/31 in 4 overs) took over, as DC struggled to score runs at a good pace.
"Gujarat has always created that aura about themselves 'we'll restrict you to 160 and get that'. An impact player, it makes it even easier for them. Sai Sudharsan constructed the innings perfectly," Kumble said.
GT will next play KKR in Ahmedabad on April 9, while DC will take on Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati a day earlier.
(PTI inputs)
