Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill and fellow opener Sai Sudharsan shattered a huge T20 world record with their another batting masterclass on Friday, May 29. The two openers, who have been the batting lynchpins for GT, put up a jaw-dropping partnership of 167 runs in the Qualifier 2 against the Rajasthan Royals and helped the team make its way into the IPL 2026 final.
Gill and Sudharsan have already put up some mammoth stands in the past, and this one was no exception, apart from the fact that it came in a must-win clash and helped them break a massive world record. The two have put up 11 stands of 100 or more runs, which are now the most for any wicket in the history of T20 cricket.
The two were earlier tied with three other pairings of Virat Kohli-Chris Gayle, Babar Azam-Mohammad Rizwan and Virat Kohli-AB de Villiers for 10 such stands but went past the trio with their 167-run association for the first wicket in the 215-run chase in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh.
Most century stands Men’s T20 cricket (any wicket):
11 - Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan (48 inns)
10 - Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli (63 inns)
10 - Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (75 inns)
10 - AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli (77 inns)
7 - Abhishek Sharma, Prabhsimran Singh (44 inns)
7 - Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (49 inns)
Gill and Sudharsan's 167-run stand is also the biggest for any wicket in an IPL playoff game. The two broke the previous record held by Michael Hussey and Murali Vijay, who had scored 159 for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2011 final against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (now Royal Challengers Bengaluru).
Gill slams century, Sudharsan out hit-wicket
The partnership ended in an unfortunate way after Sai Sudharsan was dismissed hit-wicket in the 13th over by Brijesh Sharma. This was the second straight innings where Sudharsan was dismissed hit-wicket after a similar incident in the Qualifier 1 against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. While Sudharsan was dismissed for a well-made 58, his captain Gill went on to slam a stellar hundred.
By the time the Southpaw was dismissed, Gill was already on 95, and he got to his hundred in the very next over with a four off Ravindra Jadeja. Gill played a masterclass of 104 to guide GT to chase down 215 in Qualifier 2. This is now the highest chase in an IPL playoff game and the second-highest in all T20 knockouts, behind only Mumbai's 222-run chase against Vidarbha in the Syed Mushtaq Ali 2024 quarterfinal.
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