After Hardik’s pep talk, Sai thrives for Titans  

CHENNAI:  As Shubman Gill’s sublime century and his 147-run stand for the second wicket with B Sai Sudharsan helped Gujarat Titans beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 34 runs on Monday night, they secured their place in the play-offs becoming the first team to qualify. However, few will know the role skipper Hardik Pandya played in the result.

Coming off a loss against Mumbai Indians in their previous game, Titans needed to get back onto winning ways and Pandya knew it too. Just before the game, he rallied the team together and gave a pep talk, reiterating the significance of ending on the right side of the result on Monday. “He asked us to go out and play positively and this worked,’’ Sai Sudharsan told this daily.

The southpaw from Tamil Nadu was playing his first game in a while having been left out after the first few games. The team management’s preferred combination meant Vijay Shankar was drafted in and he stepped up big time to win matches single-handedly with his performance with the bat. However, with Vijay Shankar getting injured, Sai Sudharsan was back in the XI on Monday and played a poignant 36-ball 47 to set the platform along with Gill.

“Pleased with the opportunity to serve the team’s cause. Here at GT team comes first, all of us are treated equally. Even when I was not part of XI, I was given good attention and practiced hard. In this format, you never know when an opportunity comes. So, I was prepared and always worked hard on my training and fitness,” said Sai Sudarshan. The youngster said that skipper Pandya had been in constant touch with him.

Before the SRH game, Pandya spoke for a while with Sai Sudharsan to ensure he was not taking any extra pressure. “Hardik spoke to me for some time. All his inputs were positive. He told me not to put unnecessary pressure on me and just go out and enjoy and play my natural game. When your captain backs you to do well, it is half the job done,” he said.

As Gill put on a batting masterclass against Hyderabad on Monday to score his maiden IPL ton, Sai Sudharsan had the best seat in the house, watching him bat from the non-striker’s end. “It (Gill’s innings) was a brilliant hundred. It was written with grace all over. His innings was effortless. I just wanted to compliment him at the other end.

Watching him, I learnt many things, but in particular, how to pace one’s innings. Once I came in after Saha’s dismissal, I had a feel of the surface and then played accordingly. The SRH attack was good with the likes of Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar), Nattu (T Natarajan) and (Marco) Jansen in their ranks. So, we value this win a lot,” he signed off.