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Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin lauded Sai Sudharsan for his impressive knock for Gujarat Titans, highlighting the youngster’s clarity and understanding of his game despite the team’s narrow loss to Rajasthan Royals.Sudharsan played a fluent innings of 73 off 44 balls in the absence of regular skipper Shubman Gill, but Gujarat Titans fell short in a high-scoring contest at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday. Ashwin praised Sudharsan’s approach, noting how he adapted to the responsibility. “Sai Sudharsan knew that Shubman wasn’t playing today, so he had to do the heavy lifting himself. The way he started showed that he understands his strengths. He used pace well, guiding the ball towards third man, and then played some good cover drives on the front foot. He took on Jadeja immediately after he came into the attack, made use of the pace, and followed it up with a slog sweep,” Ashwin said on JioStar.Gill missed the GT’s game against RR owing to a muscle spasm, and Rashid Khan led the side in his absence. Ashiwn feels that when Gill returns, his opening combination with Sudharsan will be the key for GT to move forward.“These are the strong areas for Sudharsan, which he relies on, and he got the results. He needs to play like this, carry the innings, but at a good tempo. And for the Gujarat Titans, missing Shubman Gill was a big setback. So obviously, when Shubman returns, this opening combination will be key for them going forward, yet again,” he added.
RR Hold Nerve in High-Scoring Clash
Rajasthan Royals continued their strong start to the season, registering their second consecutive win to climb to the top of the points table with a healthy net run rate. Defending a formidable total of 210, Rajasthan were pushed to the brink by Gujarat’s late charge, with Rashid Khan and Kagiso Rabada threatening a dramatic finish.Captain Riyan Parag revealed that the plan at the death was to attack the stumps with pace and deny the batters room to free their arms. He admitted there was a brief thought of reshuffling the bowling order but credited Dhruv Jurel for suggesting that Jofra Archer bowl the penultimate over.The decision proved crucial, as Archer delivered a tight 19th over, using his pace and experience to keep Gujarat in check. Tushar Deshpande then held his nerve in the final over, successfully defending 10 runs to seal the victory.
