New Delhi, May 21 -- It's easy, and a bit lazy, to lock an elegant left-hander into boxes of beauty, the kinds engendered by the likes of Gower, Ganguly, and Lara. But that would be unjust on Sai Sudharsan, who exudes every bit of that old-world grace with high-elbow drives but they are also interspersed with innovation. Silken cover drives accompanying slog sweeps, scoops and ramps. Power hits that put no visible strain on his frame, clean striking that is at once jaw-dropping and clinical. On Sunday, Sudharsan was in his groove again against Delhi Capitals here, the forced break doing little to disturb his rhythm. The pitch was flat and so was DC's bowling, but Sudharsan's early assault in the 200-run chase stunned the hosts into early submission. He hit four fours and a six off his first nine balls, but when DC managed to string together a few quiet overs, the 23-year-old was mature enough to bide time instead of hitting his way out. The result was a fine unbeaten 108 (61 balls, 12x4, 4x6) that sent Gujarat Titans into the playoffs for the third time in four years. Top batters emphasise a great deal on finishing games once set, and the Tamil Nadu batter agreed that despite his rich vein of form, he had been thinking of "finishing games a bit more", after securing a 10-wicket win with skipper Shubman Gill. "Between overs seven to ten, they bowled really well and the momentum went down a bit. We wanted to take the game deep, didn't want to be desperate to take a lot of chances, and have a cool mindset. And we got two or three big overs that changed the game. In the previous games, I took chances and got out. Here, I was aware enough to take the game deep, and take my chances against the right match-ups," the player who broke into the scene through T20 performances said after the Player-of-the-Match performance. The fastest Indian to reach 1000 IPL runs, Sudharsan was in his element last season too when he racked up 527 runs in 12 matches to finish as GT's top-scorer though the team ended eighth. From as many matches this year, he has 617 runs, making him the top-scorer of IPL 2025. With five half-centuries, Sudharsan has displayed excellent consistency as well. His season's strike rate of 157 is also a significant uptick from last year's 141.29, indicating the freedom and belief with which he has gone about. "I've started to believe a bit more," he said. "From my mindset point of view, the belief I have has got better, to take the game deeper and win. I have expanded my batting, explored my batting; mentally I'm a bit more free and expressive." All that without compromising on his batting fundamentals speaks volumes about his maturity. The buzz surrounding his likely selection for the England Test series after Rohit Sharma's retirement doesn't come as a surprise either considering he held his own in Australia for India A. He will fly to England with Gill for the second of India A's two first-class matches against England A next month. A batter of similar classical mould, Gill has complemented Sudharsan beautifully this season. Their low-risk, high-reward batting has raised 839 runs for the opening wicket this edition. Averaging 76.27 runs per match and with three 100 and four half-century partnerships, the pair has been the bulwark of GT's campaign. Punjab Kings' Priyansh Arya-Prabhsimran Singh is the only other pair that has opened for 12 matches this season and their 425 runs make them a distant second among successful opening pairs. While some of the other teams seem to advocate an all-out attacking approach from openers, Gill and Sudharsan, against DC, chose to go against the grain in sticking to the established method of one batter going berserk and the other playing second fiddle. For much of the Powerplay against DC, Gill went at run-a-ball while Sudharsan accelerated. And when spinners came on, the former went into six-hitting overdrive. To trust that ploy, not in a middling but in a 200-run chase, demonstrates their understanding and ability to play the situation. With GT going back to Ahmedabad for their two remaining games against LSG (May 22) and CSK (May 25), trust GT's openers to close out the league phase with a typically soothing flourish....