To get out hit wicket once can be dismissed as unfortunate, but twice, that too in consecutive games, is just bizarre. Gujarat Titans (GT) opener B Sai Sudharsan now finds himself part of an unwanted record after registering three hit-wicket dismissals in his T20 career, but he was able to laugh about it after the win against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Qualifier 2, which sealed his team a place in the IPL 2026 final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
"I think I should try some things," Sai Sudharsan told the broadcasters about the freak dismissal. "I'm going to try some grip tech now and just bat a few balls and see how it is. But honestly, I don't have a lot of answers on how it happened."
In Qualifier 1 against RCB, Sai Sudharsan looked fluent early, but in the third over he lost his bat while cutting Jacob Duffy to the boundary, with the bat ricocheting onto his leg stump before the ball could reach the fence.
Against RR, there was an uncanny sense of deja vu. In a chase of 215, Sai Sudharsan appeared set for another big innings, racing to 58 off 32 balls during a commanding opening stand with Shubman Gill, but while driving Brijesh Sharma's low full toss through the off side, his bat once again flew out of his hands in the follow-through and crashed directly into the stumps. A visibly upset Sai Sudharsan walked back in disbelief, while Gill at the other end dropped to his knees.
Sai Sudharsan's first hit-wicket dismissal had come in 2022 at the Brabourne Stadium against Mumbai Indians. Andre Russell and Shoaib Malik are the two other batters to have been out hit wicket three times in the format.
"Seriously, last game it [the bat] just bounced a few times and hit the stumps. But this game, I just wanted it to hit straight away, I think," Sai Sudharsan joked.
Sai Sudharsan and Gill put on 167, setting GT up to cruise through their chase of 215. Gill admitted that even he struggled to process what had happened.
"I don't think I've ever seen anything like that," Gill said. "Two matches, two in a row, the way he got out. I saw some video on social media that he was taping his hands, I think. I'm going to have to do that in the next match."
The pair's partnerships have once again been the defining feature of GT's season. They now have four century stands in IPL 2026, with both batters crossing the 700-run mark.
"Honestly, I think we complement each other very well," Gill said, on being asked what makes their partnership click. "We understand each other's game very well. And when we are batting out there, our communication is very good. We know one of us has to take down one of the bowlers. And I think we are very good in deciding who's going to take down what bowler."
Sai Sudharsan spoke of how he had grown into his role alongside Gill.
"I think it [the partnership with Gill] definitely evolved over the years," he said. "I had great experiences in the first few years with the GT team which gave me some exposure or some experience on what I want to improve. This year there are so many points where I can improve so that I'll work on that and come back."