Sudharsan, Shahrukh push GT to 200 for three against RCB
Ahmedabad, Apr 28: Shahrukh Khan made full use of his promotion in the batting order for his maiden IPL fifty while Sai Sudharsan stayed till the end to guide Gujarat Titans to 200 for three against Royal Challengers Bengaluru here on Sunday.
Batting at number four, Shahrukh (58 off 30) teamed up with Sudharsan (84 not out off 49) to give Gujarat Titans a much needed push after a tepid start. The duo shared an 86-run stand off 45 balls.
RCB put the home team into bat in the scorching Ahmedabad heat with Glenn Maxwell returning to their playing eleven from a "mental and physical health" break.
Wriddhiman Saha (5 off 4) was dismissed early as the first over bowled by left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh. The former India wicketkeeper tried to make room for an aerial hit over extra cover but ended up mistiming to Karn Sharma at third man.
Skipper Shubman Gill (16) was undone by the on-field brilliance from Cameron Green who ran towards his left to take a stunning catch at long-on off Maxwell.
With Sudharan at the other end, Titans decided to do something different and sent Shahrukh ahead of the likes of Azmatullah Omarzai and David Miller.
The move worked as Shahrukh milked the spinners mainly in the cow corner region, hammering five sixes and three fours. He completed the half-century with a maximum over long-on off Green before Mohammed Siraj cleaned him up with a sharp yorker.
Miller (26 not out off 19) joined Sudharsan in the middle and two shared an unbeaten 69 run stand off 36 balls to push the team to a par score.
Sudharan's second straight fifty plus score comprised eight fours and four sixes.
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Pant let team down with stupid shot; Nitish Reddy's knock one of the greatest: Sunil Gavaskar
Melbourne, Dec 28: The legendary Sunil Gavaskar on Saturday lashed out at Rishabh Pant for his "stupid" shot in crunch situation but praised young Nitish Kumar Reddy to the skies for conjuring up "one of the greatest Test knocks" on the third day of the Boxing Day match.
With India desperately looking for a big partnership in the fourth Test against Australia at the MCG, Pant attempted to scoop Scott Boland to fine leg, only to get a leading edge for Nathan Lyon to complete a simple catch at deep third man.
Pant had tried to play a similar shot in the previous ball too but failed to connect and was hit in the naval area. The batter seemed to be in pain as he lay on the ground.
Gavaskar said the wicketkeeper-batter had let the team down by throwing his wicket away when India needed him the most.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid. You have got two fielders there and you still go for that (shot). You missed the previous shot and look where you have been caught. You have been caught at deep third man. That is throwing your wicket," a furious Gavaskar said while commentating.
"Not in the situation that India was... you have to understand the situation as well. You cannot say that that's your natural game. I'm sorry, that is not your natural game. That is a stupid shot. That is letting your team down badly," the batting great said on air.
"He should not be going in the dressing room. He should be going in the other dressing room."
Former India coach Ravi Shastri termed it a "very risky shot" given the situation.
Gavaskar was also full of praise for young Reddy, who scored maiden Test century under difficult circumstances.
Walking in at the fall of the team's sixth wicket with just 191 on the board, the 21-year-old Reddy made an unbeaten 105 off 176 balls, and was involved in a record partnership of 127 for the eighth wicket with Washington Sundar (50 off 162 balls).
"This century by Nitish Kumar Reddy must rank as one of the greatest hundreds in the history of Indian cricket," he said.
