A new Indian Premier League (IPL) season is almost here, but the chatter is more or less the same as last year. With India scoring more than 250 in the semi-finals and the final of the recently concluded Men’s T20 World Cup, the hot topic of discussion – as to whether the 300-run mark will be breached – is back doing the rounds. The tournament, two years ago, saw runs plundered for fun by the eventual winners, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Pat Cummins’ KKR registered the highest score of 287/3, leading several fans to believe the Orange Army would definitely surpass the 300-run mark in IPL 2025.
However, scoring 300 runs proved difficult, as no team managed to do so. However, the chatter has once again surfaced ahead of the IPL 2026 opener between the defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers.
Gujarat Titans’ top three comprising Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler was the trailblazing, consistent trio last year, and the main reason behind GT reaching the playoffs. The template these three followed was quite different from the remaining nine teams. The three batters put a price on their wicket and did the bulk of the scoring for the franchise, at times compromising on the strike rate. And hence, the question remains, can GT be the team to surpass 300?
Ahead of the IPL 2026 opener, Gujarat’s Sai Sudharsan, who was the Orange Cap holder last year, said that no one can enter the field with a pre-conceived notion of wanting to score 300, as the game would always be about playing to the situation and doing the needful.
“It’s all about playing to the condition. It’s all about playing variables, playing the man rather than thinking from a predetermined mindset that we have to score 300 or defend the game with so many runs. We are not thinking it that way,” Sudharsan said while replying to a Hindustan Times query during a select media interaction on Friday.
“We are thinking from a more versatile point, what the wicket is, what the bowlers are doing, how we can tackle them and how best we can come out of it. That’s the biggest, and that’s what we are talking about. It’s not about whether we have to score these many runs or things like that,” he added.
Role of Matthew Hayden
Ahead of the IPL 2026, the Gujarat Titans, the 2022 champions, also roped in former Australia batter Matthew Hayden as the batting coach. Unsurprisingly, Sudharsan is eager to learn the tricks of the trade from one of the greats of the game. The left-hander also said he would be more than willing to work on his power game and take input from Hayden on the same.
“With 10 days of time, we already have a few conversations around that, where, on how he used to look at those aspects, what you exactly mentioned and yes, we had conversations, and hopefully it helps me to get more success,” said the 24-year-old.
Last year, both Gill and Sudharsan were among the prolific run-scorers for Gujarat, and the duo would once again look to set the tournament on fire with the bat.
Speaking of his partnership with the Gujarat captain, Sudharsan said, “We have to be equipped enough, or we have to be prepared enough to do that and obviously, when the main thing is our strength. So, how can we align it towards our strengths, and how can we still not compromise on that? At the same time, do what the team requires. I think being versatile is the right thing to say.”
