Gujarat Titans' camp was simmering with tension and apprehension of a potential exit from IPL (Indian Premier League) 2024 when they took on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 59th match of the 17th season on Friday (May 10).
However, their apprehension soon evaporated as the pair of Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill took the Chennai bowlers to task.
The duo played with a fearless approach and foiled every plan that the Chennai Super Kings skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad had in mind.
Sudharsan (103 off 51 balls) and Gill (104 off 55 balls) decimated Chennai's attack and looked like taking Gujarat Titans beyond the 250-run mark before Tushar Deshpande put the brakes on their innings.
Deshpande broke the 210-run stand between the pair as he claimed the wicket of Sudharsan on the second delivery of the 18th over and took just three more deliveries to remove the Gujarat captain.
While all the Chennai bowlers leaked runs at highly expensive economy rates, Deshpande and Shardul Thakur exercised plenty of discipline in their craft and showed some fight from Chennai's side.
Deshpande finished with figures of 2/33 in his four overs and was the pick of all the Chennai bowlers.
Friday was not the first time Deshpande stepped up to the occasion when the going became tough for the Chennai bowlers. The 28-year-old has been consistently producing the goods for the team in the ongoing season.
Deshpande is the joint-highest wicket-taker for the defending champions alongside Mustafizur Rahman. The 28-year-old speedster has claimed 14 wickets for the Men in Yellow in 11 games this season.
Though his economy rate has been on the higher side (8.62) this season, one can't make much fuss about it given how the bat has dominated the ball across venues.
In the absence of Deepak Chahar who is the pace spearhead of Chennai, Deshpande has been doing the heavy lifting for the side and would be expected to shoulder the same amount of workload if not more as the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side continues to march on its title defence.
