Sai Sudharsan has 2,515 IPL runs in 57 matches, but the raw number undersells what he has actually built: three consecutive 500-plus seasons, a world T20 record, and a profile so consistent it looks less like a hot streak and more like a permanent condition. He sits 23rd on the all-time IPL run-scorers list - and at 24, he has 15 to 18 peak seasons still ahead of him. This page breaks down every season, picks the best year, settles where he ranks among active openers, and gives you the honest read on whether IPL 2026 was a step forward or a plateau.
Quick Answer - Sai Sudharsan IPL Stats
Sai Sudharsan (born 15 October 2001) opens the batting for Gujarat Titans. IPL career (57 matches): 2,515 runs at 48.37 average, 3 centuries, 20 half-centuries, HS 108*. Won the IPL 2025 Orange Cap with 759 runs at 54.21. Became the fastest batter in history to 3,000 T20 runs in just 78 innings (May 16, 2026 vs KKR), seven fewer than Shaun Marsh's previous record. Finished IPL 2026 with 722 runs at 45.12, third in the Orange Cap standings behind Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (776) and Shubman Gill (732).
हिन्दी: साई सुदर्शन ने आईपीएल में 57 मैचों में 2,515 रन बनाए हैं - 48.37 की औसत और 3 शतकों के साथ। 2025 में ऑरेंज कैप जीतने के बाद उन्होंने 2026 में टी20 का सबसे तेज 3,000 रन का विश्व रिकॉर्ड भी अपने नाम किया।
Stats verified via ESPNcricinfo and the official IPL site, updated 26 June 2026.
How Sai Sudharsan Got Here
Bharadwaj Sai Sudharsan grew up in Chennai, trained through the Tamil Nadu Premier League, and caught Gujarat Titans' attention with a 610-run Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign averaging over 76. Gujarat picked him at base price - twenty lakh rupees. In IPL 2022 he played five matches in a title-winning team. The breakout came in 2023: when Kane Williamson was ruled out injured, Sudharsan stepped up and scored 362 runs in eight games, including a 96 off 47 balls in the IPL final against CSK. Gujarat lost on the last ball; Sudharsan walked away as the batter India needed to watch.
The ODI debut against South Africa confirmed the temperament transferred formats - two consecutive fifties in his first two international innings. From 2024 onward the seasons compounded: a maiden IPL century against CSK (103 off 59 in IPL 2024), the Orange Cap in 2025 with 759 runs, and another 700-plus season in 2026. He is one of only three batters in IPL history to post 500-plus runs in three consecutive seasons. His partnership with Shubman Gill - 11 century stands in the IPL, the world record for any opening pair in all T20 cricket - is a chapter of its own.
Sai Sudharsan IPL Career - Season by Season
He has never had a bad season. The 2022 debut was limited by opportunity, not form - five matches in a title-winning team. From 2023 onward the trajectory has been a near-straight line upward in volume and purpose.
| Season | Team | M | Runs | Avg | SR | 100s | 50s | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | GT | 5 | 145 | 36.25 | 127.19 | 0 | 1 | 65* |
| 2023 | GT | 8 | 362 | 51.71 | 141.40 | 0 | 3 | 96 |
| 2024 | GT | 12 | 527 | 47.90 | 141.28 | 1 | 2 | 103 |
| 2025 | GT | 15 | 759 | 54.21 | 156.17 | 1 | 6 | 108* |
| 2026 | GT | 17 | 722 | 45.12 | 157.99 | 1 | 8 | 84 |
| Career | GT | 57 | 2,515 | 48.37 | - | 3 | 20 | 108* |
2022 SR from uccricket.live (ESPNcricinfo not confirmed; flag as low-confidence). 2026: full season including playoffs and the IPL 2026 Final (31 May). 2026 SR verified via Sportskeeda post-final report. Career SR not aggregated here as ball-by-ball totals were not independently summed.
Best Season - IPL 2025 Orange Cap
The 2025 season is the one that defined him nationally. Fifteen matches, 759 runs, average 54.21, strike rate 156.17, and the Orange Cap at 23. Six half-centuries and one hundred. No other GT batter has scored more runs in a single IPL season. That strike rate is the telling number - Sudharsan's reputation early in his career was of someone who would get to 40 and grind, someone you could contain if you could outlast the powerplay. By 2025, that reading was obsolete. He was consistently attacking from ball one while maintaining the average that defines elite T20 openers.
The standout knock was a 108* against Sunrisers Hyderabad - his first IPL century above three figures, a 58-ball innings with 11 fours and five sixes. It was the innings that turned the Orange Cap race from a contest into a formality.
Where Sai Sudharsan Ranks Among IPL's Active Openers
Three consecutive 500-plus seasons puts Sudharsan in a club with only two other members in IPL history. His 48.37 career average from the top of the order is higher than every active IPL opener except Shubman Gill. At his 51st IPL innings he passed Chris Gayle's record for runs after 50 innings by any Indian batter, and by the end of IPL 2026 he held the world T20 record for fastest to 3,000 runs. The all-time IPL XI debate among openers born after 2000 already starts with his name.
One honest caveat: his career average is assisted by not-out innings and by batting with Shubman Gill protecting one end. That partnership context is real and should not be airbrushed out.
Sudharsan vs Peers (IPL Career)
- Average: 48.37 (Sudharsan)
- Seasons 500+: 3 consecutive (2024-26)
- Debut year: 2022 (age 20)
- Franchises: 1 (Gujarat Titans only)
Sudharsan vs Himself (2026 Split)
- First 6 matches: 135 runs, avg 22.50
- Matches 7-17: 587 runs, avg 65.22
- Season fifties: 1 in first phase, 7 in second
- Final: 12 off 12, caught off Bhuvneshwar
Records Held by Sai Sudharsan
- Fastest to 3,000 T20 runs - world record: 78 innings (vs KKR at Eden Gardens, May 16, 2026), beating Shaun Marsh's previous record of 85. D'Arcy Short and Devon Conway are next on 86 innings each.
- Three consecutive 500-plus IPL seasons: 527 (2024), 759 (2025), 722 (2026). Check the full batting milestones on the IPL records hub.
- Most century partnerships with one partner in T20 cricket: 11 century stands with Shubman Gill, the world record for any opening pair. The IPL 2026 Qualifier 2 stand of 167 was the highest partnership in IPL playoff history.
- Most runs after 50 IPL innings by any Indian batter: 2,178 runs, passing Chris Gayle's previous record of 2,061 (May 2026).
- IPL 2025 Orange Cap: 759 runs at 54.21, SR 156.17 - the highest run tally by any GT batter in a single IPL season.
Sai Sudharsan in IPL 2026 - The Full Picture
The 2026 season needs to be read in two halves. In the first six matches, Sudharsan scored 135 runs at 22.50 - enough to prompt genuine questions about whether he had been figured out. From match seven onward, he answered with 587 runs at 65.22, seven fifties and one century across the remaining 11 outings including two playoff matches.
He finished the league stage with 638 runs from 14 matches - the highest tally in the IPL 2026 league stage, leading the Orange Cap standings. The Qualifier 2 against Rajasthan Royals produced his best partnership innings of the season: 58 off 32 balls in a 167-run opening stand with Gill as GT chased 215 to reach the final - a world record for any pair in IPL playoffs. The final on May 31 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad was another story entirely. Sudharsan scored 12 off 12 balls before Bhuvneshwar Kumar found a short delivery at 138.6 kmph. He went for the pull and top-edged it; Jitesh Sharma completed the catch running back. GT were 26/2 inside four overs, posted 155/8, and RCB chased it in 18 overs. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (776 runs, SR 237.30) took the Orange Cap; Sudharsan finished third at 722, behind Gill's 732.
The hit-wicket issue is documented - three times in IPL career, twice in the 2026 playoffs alone. When Bhuvneshwar Kumar took Sudharsan's wicket in the final, it was the fourth time in six meetings across the 2026 playoffs that an opponent found his off stump with a short ball. There is a flaw in the trigger movement, Bhuvneshwar knew it, and every pace unit with video analysis will run a version of that plan in 2027 before the season begins.
And yet. Three consecutive seasons above 45 average. A T20 world record. Eleven century stands with one partner. The second-longest partnership in IPL playoff history, in a knockout match, batting first ball. He does not have Suryavanshi's aggression or Kohli's total body of work yet, but the profile Sudharsan is building - volume, average, consistency of output across conditions - already sits in a different class from any other active Indian opener born after 2000. The dismissal method that ended his 2026 season is the one thing I'd want him to work on before the next campaign. He will. My read: 2027 is his season to dominate from Day 1.
Frequently Asked Questions - Sai Sudharsan IPL Stats
How many runs does Sai Sudharsan have in IPL?
As of the IPL 2026 Final on May 31, 2026, Sai Sudharsan has scored 2,515 runs in 57 IPL matches at an average of 48.37, with 3 centuries and 20 half-centuries. His highest score is 108*. All his IPL cricket has been for Gujarat Titans.
Did Sai Sudharsan win the Orange Cap in IPL 2025?
Yes. Sudharsan won the IPL 2025 Orange Cap with 759 runs in 15 matches at an average of 54.21 and a strike rate of 156.17. He was the tournament's highest run-scorer that season. In IPL 2026 he finished third in the Orange Cap standings with 722 runs, behind Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (776, winner) and Shubman Gill (732).
What is the world T20 record Sai Sudharsan holds?
Sudharsan is the fastest batter in history to reach 3,000 runs in T20 cricket, achieving the milestone in 78 innings during the IPL 2026 match against KKR at Eden Gardens on May 16, 2026. He beat Shaun Marsh's previous record of 85 innings by seven innings. D'Arcy Short and Devon Conway are next on the list at 86 innings each.
What is Sai Sudharsan's highest score in IPL?
Sai Sudharsan's highest IPL score is 108*, scored against Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2025. He has three IPL centuries in total. His most famous innings remains the 96 off 47 balls in the 2023 IPL final against CSK - four runs short of a hundred but the knock that put him on every national selector's radar.
Which team does Sai Sudharsan play for in IPL?
Sai Sudharsan plays for Gujarat Titans and has done so since his IPL debut in 2022. GT retained him ahead of the 2026 season at Rs 8.50 crore. He opens the batting alongside GT captain Shubman Gill, a partnership that holds the world T20 record for most century stands by any opening pair - 11 in total.
The Bottom Line
Sai Sudharsan at 24 holds the global T20 record for fastest to 3,000 runs and three consecutive 500-plus IPL seasons. His 2,515 career runs at 48.37 are not the promise of things to come - they are the verdict on what he already is. The 2026 season ended with 12 runs in the final, but it also contained 638 league-stage runs and a world-record Qualifier 2 partnership. Track his next campaign via the IPL 2026 Orange Cap tracker and the IPL 2026 points table.
