Gujarat Titans have confirmed their place in Qualifier 1 of TATA IPL 2023 and will face the Chennai Super Kings on May 23. However, they face Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy Stadium for their last league match of the season.

Our last fixture was on Monday against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, where Shubman Gill’s century powered us to a convincing win. The players had a much-needed five-day break after playing five matches in a space of 13 days. 

“This recovery was much needed. It was very hot in Mumbai and in Ahmedabad as well, so it was nice to have these five days off,” said Sai Sudharsan while addressing the media. 

Vijay Shankar accompanied the young left-handed batter in the press conference and said, “We have practised a lot in the breaks we had. We are focusing on our recovery while also not compromising on the practice sessions.” 

Our bowlers have been in terrific form, with Rashid Khan and Mohammad Shami leading the Purple Cap race, scalping 23 wickets each. Not far away from them is Mohit Sharma with 17 wickets in only 10 matches. But Shankar stressed that it is not something the team thinks about. 

“Last year we did not have Orange Cap or Purple Cap - this is something we can’t focus on. As a team, we should only focus on doing better in each game and every match is a great learning. That’s the only thing we think about. Orange Cap or Purple Cap, they will come eventually,” he explained.

“Shubman is there at the top but plenty of other batters have contributed as well when the team needed. It shows that everyone backs each other and there is a lot of trust among ourselves to get the job done.” 

With 576 runs already to his credit, Shubman Gill could become the sixth cricketer in TATA IPL history to score 600 runs in a season before the age of 25. The youngster is having the time of his life in this edition and enters Bengaluru fresh off a century. Shankar was full of praise for his teammate. 

“Shubman Gill practises really hard. His work ethic is his biggest strength, irrespective of the number of runs he scores, he is always training hard. He never misses a practice session, which is very important. I think he is a class player and for him to do a good job so regularly this season is great for the team,” he said.  

Sai Sudharsan and Vijay Shankar represent Tamil Nadu in the domestic circuit and have known each other for a while now. Talking about the camaraderie they share between each other, Sudharsan says,“He has always been there for me.” 

Vijay adds, “It is important to enjoy teammates’ success. Last game, I was not there, but Sudharsan got a crucial knock. I was trying to send all the messages across to him from the dressing room. If the team wins that day, that’s the best thing. It’s all about preparing ourselves, giving our 100% and things will turn in your favour one day.”