Top 5 highest opening partnerships in IPL history ft. Shubman Gill & B Sai Sudharsan

Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan destroyed the Delhi Capitals (DC) in IPL 2025 last night (May 18). The Gujarat Titans (GT) openers stitched up a magnificent partnership of 205 runs to help their franchise record a memorable 10-wicket win at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Batting first, Delhi Capitals posted 199/3 on the board, thanks to an unbeaten hundred from KL Rahul. However, Rahul's efforts went in vain as Sudharsan notched up a ton and Gill fell narrowly short of the three figures mark. GT finished the chase with six balls to spare.

So where does this 205-run stand between Gill and Sudharsan rank in the list of highest opening partnerships in IPL history? Let's find out.

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#5 184 - Gautam Gambhir and Chris Lynn vs GL, IPL 2017

Former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) openers Gautam Gambhir and Chris Lynn owned the record for the highest opening partnership in the second innings in IPL history before Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill's 205-run stand against the Delhi Capitals.

Like Gill and Sudharsan, Gambhir and Lynn guided their team to a 10-wicket win by chasing down the target given by the opponents without losing any wickets. Gambhir and Lynn achieved the feat against the now-defunct Gujarat Lions (GL) team in 2017.

Rajkot's Niranjan Shah Stadium hosted that game between GL and KKR, where Gujarat posted 183/4 in 20 overs. Chasing 184, KKR raced to 184/0 in 14.5 overs, with Lynn leading the charge. Lynn aggregated 94 runs off 51 deliveries and received fine support from Gambhir, who finished with 76 runs from 48 deliveries.

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#4 185 - David Warner and Jonny Bairstow vs RCB, IPL 2019

David Warner and Jonny Bairstow own the record for the highest opening stand by a pair featuring two overseas batters in IPL history. The Australian-English pair showed no mercy to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru team at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in 2019.

Warner was not out on 100 off 55, whereas Bairstow got out after scoring 114 runs from 56 balls. Bairstow smashed five fours and five sixes. His opening partner Warner hit 12 fours and seven maximums. SRH scored 231/2 in 20 overs after the 185-run stand between Warner and Bairstow.

RCB gave an opportunity to 16-year-old Prayas Ray Barman in that match, but the youngster leaked 56 runs in four overs. Prayas is yet to play in IPL after that game, where RCB suffered a 118-run defeat.

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#3 205* - Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan vs DC, IPL 2025

Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan's 205-run partnership against the Delhi Capitals holds the third position on the all-time list. Left-handed Sudharsan scored a marvelous 61-ball 108*, and right-handed Gill amassed 93 runs from 53 balls.

The two openers hit 15 fours and 11 maximums to destroy the Delhi Capitals bowling department. It is pertinent to note that DC had experienced players like Axar Patel, Mustafizur Rahman, T Natarajan, Dushmantha Chameera, and Kuldeep Yadav in their bowling unit. Still, they took zero wickets in 19 overs.

Gill and Sudharsan could have shattered the all-time record because one over was still left in the innings. However, DC set a target of 200 runs only.

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#2 210* - KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock vs KKR, IPL 2022

In a rare instance in T20 cricket history, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) played out the entire 20 overs without losing any wickets against the Kolkata Knight Riders back in 2022. The DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai hosted the battle between LSG and KKR, where KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock scored 210 runs in 20 overs.

That match was held on May 18 as well, and incidentally, the left-handed opener scored a hundred while the right-handed opener did not. Quinton remained not out on 140 runs off 70 balls, batting at a strike rate of 200. He smashed 10 fours and 10 sixes.

His opening partner KL Rahul remained not out on 68 runs from 51 deliveries. Rahul's knock was laced with three fours and four sixes as he batted at a strike rate of 133.33. LSG defeated KKR by two runs in that game.

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#1 210 - Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan vs CSK, IPL 2024

Last year, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan sunk the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by adding up 210 runs off 17.2 overs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Gill and Sudharsan smashed a century each while opening the innings for the Gujarat Titans.

Sudharsan amassed 103 runs off 51 balls, hitting eight fours and seven sixes. His strike rate was 201.96, while Gill maintained a strike rate of 189.09, scoring 104 runs from 55 deliveries. Gill smacked nine fours and sixes.

The GT openers completed a total of 50 runs in the powerplay itself, reached 100 in 57 balls, 150 in 12.4 overs and 200 in 16.2 overs. GT eventually scored 231/3 and then restricted CSK to 196/8 to win by 35 runs.