On Monday, April 21, the Gujarat Titans (GT) were asked to bat first against the Kolkata Knight Riders in Match 39 of the Indian Premier League 2025 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The Gujarat Titans’ attempt was a disaster, despite the fact that captain Ajinkya Rahane had the coin flip in his favour.
Despite a sluggish start in the powerplay, the in-form opening pair of captain Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan came out to bat to start the innings. They quickly picked up pace and never seemed uncomfortable middleing the ball, hitting them in the gaps, finding boundaries, and stealing quick singles and twos. Gill and Sudharsan put up a strong opening display that lasted 12.1 overs before the latter left for Andre Russell’s bouncer, but not before he had amassed 52 off 36 balls.
The hosts should have been overpowered if they had taken a wicket, but Jos Buttler arrived at number three and immediately began to dominate. Early in his innings, the Englishman began to slog with a mix of ramps and soaring shots, demonstrating how much he was in the zone. Buttler was also extremely lucky, as he missed a few opportunities, which further aggravated KKR’s problems.
With some tasteful strokes interspersed throughout his knock, the GT captain also carried on with his happy method of scoring runs via conventional stroke play.
Gill scored an incredible 90, falling just short of his fifth century in the lucrative competition, but he didn’t let the ease of scoring runs on a flat Eden pitch get to him. Even so, the visitors had a fantastic innings finale, and although KKR had little to be happy about in terms of their bowlers, Varun Chakravarthy stood out with just 33 runs in his four overs.
After the innings, Sudharsan, the standout opener, spoke candidly about how he and his captain executed their brilliant partnership for the first wicket. For those who don’t know, Sudharsan also received the Orange Cap for his knock this evening.
“The wicket was incredibly slow at the beginning of the game, and we had a lot of trouble in the powerplay. We had excellent communication out there and attempted to utilise the bad balls. I like Gill’s company, and I benefit greatly from his experience. When the conditions are challenging and we attempt to utilise the running between the wickets, it matters. Since having wickets in hand is crucial, we attempted to bat deep after realising the wicket was challenging. He stated on television, “To be honest, we have given the bowlers a very good total to defend.”
Well played, Shubman Gill!!!#KKRvGT pic.twitter.com/ziTj1SuXqH
— CricAsh (@ash_cric) April 21, 2025
Most 90s+ Scores for Gujarat Titans in IPL.
Shubman Gill : 7
Sai Sudharsan : 2
Jos Buttler : 1#IPL2025 pic.twitter.com/ciVIuZ7wDB— Gurlabh Singh (@gurlabhsingh610) April 21, 2025
Ashish Nehra won’t sit quietly even if it’s 80 needed in one over 😂 pic.twitter.com/Odno4UYfSW
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) April 21, 2025
50+ score against all opponent teams in IPL 🤌🏻 pic.twitter.com/2kGUkshS76
— depressed gill fan (@ShubmanGillFan) April 21, 2025
Before IPL – GT’s middle order is a concern
Meanwhile GT’s Top order —- pic.twitter.com/4OpLdMcxlL
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) April 21, 2025
India
