ENG Tests hopeful Sai Sudharsan lauds captain Gill in DC win, credits IPL break for heroic ton

Sai Sudharsan cannot do anything wrong right now. The current IPL 2025 purple cap holder scored his second hundred in the competition the other night, his first this season, helping Gujarat Titans (GT) complete their highest successful run chase (205). GT has qualified for the IPL 2025 playoffs with 18 points from 12 contested matches. Also, Sai complimented Shubman Gill for his effective captaincy, pressing their cases for respective roles on India's upcoming Test tour of England.

While the latest reports see Gill leading the Test captaincy race ahead of ace seamer Jasprit Bumrah and others like Rishabh Pant and even KL Rahul, the BCCI would likely rope in in-form batter Sai for the away five-match Test series starting June 20, making him play in the top order, likely at number three.

With this batting duo doing wonders for GT in IPL 2025, having already registered the most runs (839 and counting) by an Indian pair in a season, the team management and BCCI selectors must breathe easy.

Sai praises Gill

Having batted together for almost two seasons, Gill and Sai know each other's game. Praising his captain for guiding them through such run chases, Sai said, "When I got after the bowlers, he compliments me; we rotate strike and run really well. In the middle overs, running is a vital thing for us. When I make some mistakes, he makes me aware, and similarly, from my side as well."

While the left-handed batter remained unbeaten 108 in 61 balls, hitting four sixes and 12 fours, Gill was not out on 93 from 53 balls, whacking seven biggies and three fours. In the first innings, KL Rahul hit 112* in 65 deliveries, timing four sixes and 14 fours to perfection.

Sai, in particular, has been in tremendous touch this season, leading the run-scoring chart. The GT opener has collected 617 runs in 12 matches thus far, with his batting partner second on the list with 601 runs in as many outings.

The BCCI was forced to suspend IPL 2025 on May 9 due to escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, with the competition resuming nine days later on May 17. That break, however, did some good to Sai’s game.

"There's a bit of joy when you finish games for the team," Sai Sudharsan said.

"In the break we got, I was thinking on that [finishing games] a bit more. Between overs seven to ten, they bowled really well [DC conceded 30 to leave GT 93 without loss]. The momentum went down a bit.

"We wanted to take the game deep, didn't want to be desperate to take a lot of chances, have a cool enough mindset to take the game deep. And we got two or three big overs that changed the game. In the previous games, I took chances and got out. Here, I was aware enough to take the game deep and take my chances against the right match-ups,” he explained after winning the Player of the Match award.

Meanwhile, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Punjab Kings (PBKS), alongside GT, have qualified for the IPL 2025 playoffs.