IPL 2024: Sai Sudharsan needs to be spoken about a bit more, says Graeme Smith

New Delhi, May 11 After Gujarat Titans’ B Sai Sudarshan slammed his maiden IPL century alongside fellow centurion Shubman Gill in the side’s 35-run win over Chennai Super Kings, former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith said the left-handed batter needs to be talked about a bit more in the cricketing circles.

At the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday night, Sudarshan, opening the batting after veteran wicketkeeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha was ruled out due to a niggle, slammed five fours and seven sixes at a strike-rate of 201.96 to make a fantastic 103, his maiden IPL century.

He also shared a 210-run opening partnership with Gill, and equalled the record for the highest IPL opening stand held by Quinton de Kock and K.L. Rahul, who added exactly 210 runs for the first wicket against Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2022. Sudarshan is now the fourth-highest IPL 2024 run-getter with 527 runs in 12 matches, averaging 47.91.

"I thought Mathew Wade would open the innings and Sudharsan would stay at three, but it turned out to be a fantastic move. The partnership was excellent, Lefthand - Right-hand combination, they ran between the wickets well; they picked their targets, and their matchups were just outstanding.”

‘Sudharsan is so under the radar, he is the leading run-scorer for GT this season, the fastest Indian to a thousand IPL runs with a difference of six innings, and a brilliant, brilliant hundred by him. He needs to start being spoken about a bit more," said Smith on JioCinema.

He also lauded Gill, who hit nine fours and six sixes at a strike-rate of 189.09 to hit 104, his fourth IPL hundred in Ahmedabad. "He is not having the best of seasons, but he really showed his best here. He picked up straight away, there was a totally different attitude with the bat.”

“You could get a sense of his intent when he went down the wicket and hit Santner for a four down the ground in the very first over. This is the Shubman Gill we want to see day in and day out. Ultimately, for the competition, this is a hell of a win for GT because it really does bunch everybody now and there are a lot of teams at 12 points now.”

Similar views on Gill were echoed by RP Singh, the former India left-arm fast-bowler. “Shubman Gill changed his game. Everyone was discussing that his strike rate was not good in this season, but both the openers played explosive cricket, especially Gill.”

“(He) started well, used his bottom hand more and played all around the ground. He assessed the conditions well, batted with momentum, and did not give any chances to Chennai Super Kings. He batted very cleanly and took his team home," he concluded.

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