AHMEDABAD: B Sai Sudharsan was in disbelief, having both his hands on his head. His opening partner and captain, Shubman Gill, was down on his knees. The disappointment was visible in both of them as the left-hand batter was out hit-wicket for the second time in as many games during the Qualifier 2 against Rajasthan Royals at New Chandigarh on Friday.
Before that, he had been hit wicket against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru as well in Qualifier 1 at Dharamsala. A hit wicket happening once to a batter is an anomaly. Twice in as many games is a Black Swan event.
The first time in Dharamsala, he sliced Jacob Duffy to the point boundary, but the bat slipped from his hands, bounced a few times before hitting the stumps. On Friday, he hit a low full toss off Brijesh Sharma. The ball sped away to the boundary but the bat slipped and hit the stumps directly. If the first dismissal came early on in the innings, Sudharsan had already crossed his fifty in the second knock.
The disappointment, however, was visible when he spoke with broadcasters after the match. “I think I should try some things. I'm going to try to get some grip tech now and just bat a few balls and see how it is. (How does it happen twice in two games?) Seriously. In the last game, it just bounced a few times and hit the stumps. But this game, I just wanted it to hit straight, I think,” he explained.
While it may be too soon to say if there is anything technical with the bat slipping out of his hands, it happening in consecutive matches is the kind of luck no one would want. Over the years, the batters have come up with different ways to make sure that it does not cost them dearly. Adam Gilchrist used a squash ball in the 2007 ODI World Cup final against Sri Lanka. In the years that followed, technology developed enough to come up with solutions.
One such is what Sai Sudharsan mentioned — Grip Tec, a Non-Slip Grip Enhancement Paste. Developed in New Zealand and trusted by elite athletes worldwide, Virat Kohli is known to use this cream for better grip over the last decade. In one of the videos shared by Royal Challengers Bengaluru a few years ago, Kohli could be seen saying that he has been using the cream for four years. “It just gives me more control when I wear the gloves and hold my bat,” he had said in the video.
Though Titans did not train on Saturday, it will be interesting to see if Sudharsan tries it out on the evening of the final in Ahmedabad.