Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Apr 24: Gujarat Titans opener Sai Sudharsan etched his name in the IPL record books on Friday by becoming the fastest batter to complete 2,000 runs in the tournament.

The left-hander reached the milestone during Gujarat Titans’ clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, achieving the feat in just 47 innings and surpassing Chris Gayle, who had taken 48 innings.

Sudharsan entered the match needing 72 runs to break the record and went on to bring up the landmark in style before eventually being dismissed for a superb 100 off 58 balls by Josh Hazlewood.

With the milestone, he moved ahead of Gayle, Shaun Marsh, Ruturaj Gaikwad and KL Rahul in the list of fastest batters to 2,000 IPL runs.

Before the match, Sudharsan had scored 1,928 runs from 46 matches at an average of 45.90 and a strike rate of 145.83, including two centuries and 13 half-centuries.

He also featured among the quickest Indian batters to 2,000 IPL runs in terms of balls faced.

Earlier, Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Rajat Patidar won the toss and opted to bowl first.

RCB handed a season debut to England batter Jacob Bethell in place of the injured Phil Salt, while Gujarat Titans brought in Jason Holder for his debut and recalled Manav Suthar.