GT vs RR, IPL 2026: Gujarat Titans (GT) opener Sai Sudharsan has managed to find the most bizarre heartbreaking way to get himself dismissed for the second match in a row in IPL 2026 playoffs. The classy left-hander was on his way to solidifying a huge chase during Friday’s high-octane Qualifier 2 clash against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Mullanpur. Batting like a dream, he was on 58 off just 32 deliveries. And then unthinkable happened. RR pacer Brijesh Sharma bowled a low full toss outside the off stump in the 13th over.
Sudharsan opened the face of his bat and sliced the delivery over point. As it had on his previous appearance, the ball flew cleanly off the middle of the blade and sped away toward the boundary fence. But then the crowd started to cheer and the stadium went into stunned silence. The bat slipped completely out of Sudharsan’s grip in his follow-through. This time, however, the bat went straight through the air and hit his stumps directly, dislodging the bails, rather than bouncing off the turf before hitting the woodwork as in the previous game.
TWO HIT WICKETS IN TWO INNINGS FOR SAI SUDHARSAN. pic.twitter.com/YmHAk61urd
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 29, 2026
On-air commentator Ravi Shastri could not contain his complete disbelief at the sheer repetition of the blunder, famously exclaiming, “Where is the Fevicol? “Where’s the glue?” Down on the pitch, GT skipper Shubman Gill fell to his knees in sheer disbelief as his premier partner walked off with his head down. Now, with this dismissal, Sai Sudharsan has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. He now shares the world record for the most number of hit-wicket dismissals in Men’s T20 cricket history with power-hitter Andre Russell and Pakistani veteran Shoaib Malik with 3 dismissals each.
Most importantly, Sudharsan is the only player to face all three embarrassments only in the IPL. This very technical glitch cost Gujarat dearly just three nights ago in Qualifier 1 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Dharamshala. Chasing a mammoth 255, Sudharsan had cut pacer Jacob Duffy beautifully for a boundary only to see his bat slip out of his hands, hit the ground and top-spin right back onto the stumps. His first hit-wicket offence was in the 2022 season against Mumbai Indians’ Kieron Pollard before this ongoing playoff nightmare.
Sudharsan has a tendency to open his wrists late to manipulate pace and this has been a recurring theme and a big technical vulnerability. His stellar tournament run has him comfortably perched near the top of the Orange Cap leaderboards, but his slippery grip has GT’s management sweating over a very strange, costly habit.
Debayan Bhattacharyya is a seasoned sports journalist and digital media professional, currently serving as the Chief Sub Editor at ITV Digital (NewsX). A true Football-Fanatic Bong, his professional journey began at Zee Media, where he kicked off his career as a Sub-Editor for the sports team at India.com and CricketCountry. His ability to blend insightful analysis with rapid-fire news delivery soon led him to Times Network, where he served as a Senior Copy Editor for Times Now. Before his current role at NewsX, Debayan spent a significant tenure at OneIndia’s MyKhel as a Senior Sub Editor.
