Sai Sudharsan says calm approach helped him score 96 against CSK in IPL final

Sudharsan finished as GT’s second most prolific batter, scoring 362 runs in eight matches with three fifties at an average of 51.71 and a strike rate of 141.40.

Gujarat Titans batter B. Sai Sudharsan has credited his fabulous 47-ball 96 in the IPL final against Chennai Super Kings to a calm approach to his batting, saying his focus on the mental aspect of the game paid dividends.

Sudharsan's strokeful 96, laced with eight fours and six sixes, took GT to 214 for four and raised hopes of back-to-back title. But Ravindra Jadeja smashed a six and a four in the last two balls to help CSK chase down the revised target of 171 from 15 overs in the rain-affected summit clash on Monday.

“I felt a lot of pressure in the last game. I came to the realisation that being more calm is much better and I have the ability to do much better. I felt a bit more calm in this game,” Sudharsan said at the post-match press conference.

The 21-year-old Sudharsan said to be retired out in the Qualifier 2 against Mumbai Indians when he was on 43 was "personally worrying" but he knew it was a team decision.

“Personally, it will be definitely worrying, but it is a team decision and the way our batters were batting after Nos 3, 4, and 5, they have been explosive this season. I think that is pure and pure a team decision. It was definitely for the team‘s cause and I am hundred percent with it,” he said.

Asked about his batting approach in the final, the left-handed batter from Chennai said, “When Shubman (Gill) got out, it was all about taking the game a little deeper and keeping a check on the scoreboard as well. I was trying to take my chances and take the game deep as well.

“It was more about the mental aspect, how to get ready, how to be aware or how to decide what to do in that situation. I have worked on that a little bit and obviously in the skill part as well.”