IPL 2026 Final | Titans of Gujarat: Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan

Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan (BCCI/IPL Photo) TimesofIndia.com in Ahmedabad: Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan are not just scoring runs; are redefining batting partnerships in T20 cricket. With another 700-plus run season, Gujarat Titans’ opening pair have entered elite territory. They equaled and broke the records once dominated by legends like Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Their remarkable consistency and understanding at the top made them one of the most prolific batting pairs the format has ever seen.The Gujarat Titans pair now have eight century partnerships for the opening wicket, the joint-highest in men’s T20 cricket along with Pakistan’s Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. Their tally of 2,944 runs together in the IPL is already the second-highest partnership total in the history of the tournament, behind only the 3,123 runs amassed by Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers between 2011 and 2020.Notably, Gill and Sudharsan have only achieved this since IPL 2022, when Sudharsan was still finding his feet in GT’s debut season. Their individual numbers were equally impressive. After Sudharsan won the Orange Cap last year with 759 runs and Gill finished fourth with 650, the duo dominated the charts again in 2026 with Gill scoring 722 runs and Sudharsan 710, both surpassed only by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Gill also held a slight edge in the scoring rate this season, striking at 163.71 compared to Sudharsan’s 159.55, while being particularly aggressive in the power bowl, scoring 159.20 against his partner’s 145.02.There has also been occasional criticism of GT for their over-reliance on this duo. However, their appetite for running was never in doubt.Shubman and Sai are more traditional openers. They prefer to pick gaps rather than go bang bang. Their strength lies in playing proper batting cricket which was seen in their 167 runs against Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2.Speaking at the pre-final press conference in Mullanpur after GT’s win over RR, Gill acknowledged how he and Sai had developed a relationship on and off the field over the years.“We spend a lot of time together in the IPL, on and off the field, and then we’re also in the Test team, so we have a lot of conversations,” he told reporters.“There are things that we talk about cricket outside of cricket. Not only for them but I think there are many players in our team who also play for the country and hopefully we will be playing together for a long time. It is very important for us to know each other well so that we have a great equation which automatically goes beyond the performances on the field I believe,” he added. Gill was particularly glowing in his praise of his partner at the GT opener, speaking at length about the southpaw’s power. “When I first started playing in the IPL, one of the challenges I faced was to play matches with the same intensity. I think that’s one of Sai’s greatest strengths,” he said. “You play so many matches, there can be days when mentally you don’t feel up to it or physically you don’t feel up to it, but to be able to have the same intensity in every match and be consistent in your preparation, in your routine, it’s not that easy and he’s someone who is very consistent in his routines, in his life outside of cricket,” Gill added. GT Director of Cricket Vikram Solanki also celebrated the appetite for runs that the duo has in them. “It’s on the back of a lot of hard work. I can only imagine all the work Shubman has put in throughout his career to get where he is in terms of his batting. He’s an exceptional young man. And sometimes you have to realize he’s still a young man. And to play the cricket he is, to bat the way he is, it’s just phenomenal.“And Sai is no less. He may be a bit younger in his journey, but you can see that he’s taking a good example from Shubman and he understands that his skills are actually what you and I might think of as batsmanship, a kind of traditional form of batting. But there’s no doubt that if the situation calls for them to increase their run-rate and wickets to really suit their ability to play that way, then I think they can adapt in any way. It’s that kind of situation, given to any goal, given any opposition, along with the fact that they have a huge appetite to score,” said Solanki at a press conference after GT’s win.Records have followed Gill and Sudharsan wherever they have batted this season, but the stats and milestones probably don’t matter as much as what awaits them in the final. One last partnership this season and one more statement at the top could turn a remarkable season into a winning season.