IPL Pulse: The 2 v 1 slugfest

Good morning

Give the 2016 SRH batch a reunion call ahead of the IPL final and felicitate them again. With each passing year, one understands what a significant achievement it was to clinch the title after having been asked to play the Eliminator. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was in his elements again, almost dragging RR down the same path. But Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan double teamed once again and turned up for the umpteenth time to usurp Sooryavanshi's efforts and set up a rematch of Qualifier 1 - this time on home turf in Ahmedabad.

If you missed last night's action, then here's Cricketlineguruji Pulse, your 2-minute scan of the IPL verse.

Last night in five lines

Siraj and Rabada give GT a dream start

Sooryavanshi and a promoted Jadeja stand firm

Sooryavanshi misses a ton (again) but RR still finish with 214

Gill and Sudharsan turn up the heat in the run chase

Gill scores a century and ensures it's GT vs RCB in the final

Oh, that happened

A throwback to the 2011 World Cup final. 15 years later, there were eerie similarities. MS Dhoni was annoyed on that fateful day after the match referee called for the toss to be redone. Shubman Gill was miffed last night considering Riyan Parag lost the toss the first time, only for the match referee to not hear it and call for another toss. This time, Parag ended up on the winning side. Dhoni eventually proved to be the match-winner for India on April 2, 2011. It was Gill's turn on May 29, 2026 as he was named the player of the match for his splendid century.

Pulse Awards

Thenew-day-new-record award goes to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Almost after every outing of his, the record books are rewritten. Last night, he became the first player in IPL history to score over 500 runs inside the Powerplay in a single edition.

The boy wonder wins the reckless-nineties award for once again displaying fearlessness while inching closer to a century and eventually perishing without reaching the landmark. This has happened three times now in his last four outings.

The pushing-things-a-bit-too-far award goes to Kumar Sangakkara. Jofra Archer walked out to bat the other day at No.7 after 12.5 overs. Last night, he walked out at No.6 after just 11.3 overs. His outing lasted a grand four deliveries.

The hero-turns-villain award goes to Donovan Ferreira. He hammered 38* off just 11 to put RR in a great position but dropped Sai Sudharsan in the Powerplay, giving GT a massive reprieve.

The impossible-is-possible award goes to Sai Sudharsan. It happened once. We certainly didn't think it could happen again. But it literally happened the very next game. The bat slipped out of his hand again and hit the stumps last night. Shubman Gill couldn't believe it at the non-striker's end and dropped to his knees. In all fairness, no one could believe it.

Speaking of Gill, he is presented with a gentle-reminderaward with Sai Kishore's face printed on it. Only five players picked more wickets than Sai Kishore in IPL 2025. Yet, he had played only two games before last night. In his supposed third outing (last night), he didn't bowl a single over.

Talking point

Dropped from the Indian team for the T20 World Cup just before the tournament, Shubman Gill once again sent a reminder of his prowess in the format with a stunning knock last night. The seeds were sown the previous night though as he spent several minutes near the pitch analysing, visualising and familiarising. Gill was still reeling from a rare top-order implosion to RCB in Qualifier 1. And he made amends in style by setting up the rematch in the final. More on his knock here.

Chatter

"With everything Vaibhav has shown against some of the best bowlers in the world, I think he's more than ready to take on any challenge that you throw at him and I'm sure that he'll get that call-up very, very soon." Kumar Sangakkara is quite sure that the national call-up is on its way for the youngster.

"We were told that Sam Curran had a season-ending injury. But I think I saw him playing for Surrey for two or three games now. So that was disappointing." Sangakkara was clearly not impressed with Sam Curran not turning up for IPL 2026.

"Our medical team, who work extremely hard and have done for the last two, best part of three months, will sort of assess and do whatever is necessary to get him back on the park". GT director of cricket, Vikram Solanki is hopeful of Siraj featuring in the final.

"The way he got out. I saw some video on social media that taping his hand, I think I'm going to have to do that in the next match." Shubman Gill sees the funny side after his opening partner disturbed the stumps again with his bat.

Stat snack

Of course Vaibhav Sooryavanshi makes the cut. Last night, he surpassed 1000 runs in the IPL, becoming the quickest to reach that landmark in just 440 balls. Next best? 545!

Gossip column

The word is that the IPL organisers are breathing a sigh of relief now that the Royals are out. They were in a difficult predicament, pretty much forced to hand the MVP award and the Emerging Player award to the same player. But now Rabada has another chance to pip Sooryavanshi to the MVP award if he can bowl GT to the title in the final.

Tonight's watchlist

The RCB press conference or the practice session to figure out Phil Salt's status for the big final.

Reckless prediction for tonight

Another franchise to try and steal the spotlight from the ongoing tournament by parting ways with its captain.