Sai Sudharsan receiving the Player of the Match award for Gujarat Titans’ win over Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024 at Motera generated a lot of reactions on social media.
The game went down to the wire, with Gujarat having the last laugh. With 19 runs to defend in the final over, Umesh Yadav held his nerve to win the match for his team by six runs. Tamil Nadu spinner R Sai Kishore (1-24) was the pick of the bowlers: he took the prized wicket of Rohit Sharma (43 in 29 balls), and put a stranglehold on Mumbai in the middle overs.
However, the jury gave the Player of the Match award to Sai Sudharsan for his 45 off 39, comprising three fours and a six, on a two-paced wicket.
Fans on social media were not too pleased by the decision, as many reckoned that Sai Kishore should have got the award instead of Sai Sudharsan. On the other hand, Irfan Pathan opined: “My man of the match is Mohit Sharma.”
Speaking at the post-match award ceremony, Sai Sudharsan admitted that he felt a bit “surprised” to receive the award, given there were “too many great contributions in the second innings”.
“I was a bit shocked because of the Player of the Match Award because there were too many great contributions in the second innings as well. They pulled off a great game today and I think it helped us better,” he said.
Here’s how people reacted on X (formerly Twitter) towards the choice of the awardee:
Guess they got confused between Sai Kishore and Sai Sudharshan. I know this was a low scoring game but no way a guy scoring 45 off 39 should have gotten the POTM
— Vishwanathan (@Vishwa0312) March 24, 2024
The GT spinners made the difference.
Rashid khan 4-0-23-0
Sai Kishore 4-0-24-1Against all odds with the dew coming in..they pulled the game back for GT.
My MOM would be Sai Kishore for the crucial crucial wicket of Rohit Sharma.#Yoviews
— Yomi (@yomi2105) March 24, 2024
I had the same question and it absolutely didn’t make any sense. But now I think I know the answer. They gave it to wrong Sai. They messed up the names. 4 overs 24 runs and the turning point wicket of Rohit Sharma. Sai Sudarshan is our man of the match https://t.co/3PV23CxIrJ
— Raghava (@belongs2raghu) March 25, 2024
My man of the match is Mohit Sharma… #GTvsMI
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) March 24, 2024
Subscribe to the Wisden Cricket YouTube channel for post-match analysis, player interviews, and much more.
