AHMEDABAD: IN December 2025, Shubman Gill and the rest of the Indian team dispersed to their homes after the T20I series against South Africa. When he left Ahmedabad after the fifth T20I — in which he did not feature with the official reason being a “niggle” — little did Gill know that in the next few hours, he would be dropped from the team for the T20 World Cup.
Team combinations and having a keeper in the top-order were the reasons given for Gill missing out but the India Test and ODI skipper took it in his stride. He put his head down, went back to his roots and did the grind. Coming into the 2026 season, all eyes were on Gill for this reason alone; could he stamp his authority and make a statement with the bat?
About 160 days after he was dropped, Gill returned to the same venue – where India also won the T20 World Cup without him — for the final practice session before Indian cricket's showpiece event. The IPL final.
It has been a season of authority and consistency — 722 runs at 48.13 while striking at 163.7. Though his graph as a T20 batter has been on a gradual upward curve, this season, he has taken it to the next level. It reflects in the numbers. His strike rate this season is easily his best, but the striking improvement has been in the powerplay hitting. Barring the excellent year he had in 2023, where Gill came close to Virat Kohli’s record run, the GT skipper has been a consistent accumulator of runs. His powerplay strike rate this year is 159.2 (career best) and he has hit 12 sixes so far this season (again, best in his IPL career). As was visible during the century against Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2, Gill is not hesitant to take the aerial route early on anymore. His numbers may not be as ridiculous as that of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi or Abhishek Sharma, but Gill has shown that he is as good a T20 batter as anyone can be. And that was crucial in Titans reaching the final.
However, he did not do it alone. His partner-in-crime, B Sai Sudharsan, has had a big role to play. The Tamil Nadu batter, much like Gill, is not your regular T20 basher, but he hasn't needed to be that. And that's helped become one of the most consistent openers in this league over the last three years.
He started with 527 runs in 2024 before producing back-to-back 700-plus seasons. The consistency factor apart, what has stood out is his improvement in range of strokes and strike rate, especially through the middle. While Gill usually dominates the middle-overs, Sudharsan was not necessarily like that when he made his IPL debut in 2022. Since 2024, however, there has been a steady increase in his middle-overs strike rate with this season being the best (173.2). Similarly, the dot ball percentage in the phase also has come down from 20.15 in 2024 to 16.8 this season. The improvement may be marginal, but it is such margins that make a difference in the results.
Sudharsan and Gill have shown that even in this day and age, there is space for traditional batters. “I think it's all about getting the job done, isn't it? Like, it doesn't matter how you get it done, as long as you keep getting the job done, that is what it's about,” Gill said ahead of the final.
Together, they have already scaled peaks like no other pair in the IPL. In just 48 innings, the duo have accumulated 2944 runs as a pair; it's only 179 behind the all-time IPL record held by Kohli-AB de Villiers (3124 in 76 innings). That partnership has held Titans together in the last three years, making sure they reached the playoffs for the fourth time in five years.
On Sunday, they will play their third final in their five-year existence. They will want to repeat the same thing they have done all season and lift the trophy for the second time. For Titans, it will be a moment to celebrate. And for Gill, it will be a redemption and statement. That he's here to stay as an all-format batter and captain.