Fan Questions Champions Trophy Winner Washington Sundar’s IPL Exclusion. Sundar Pichai Joins Debate

Gujarat Titans had a disappointing start to their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season as the Shubman Gill-led side slumped to a 11-run loss against Punjab Kings on Tuesday. Shreyas Iyer and Shashank Singh were the top performers for PBKS and although Sai Sudarshan played a brilliant 74-run knock, it was not enough to clinch the match for GT. A notable exclusion from the GT playing XI was Indian cricket team all-rounder Washington Sundar. A fan questioned the move on social media and asked how can a talent like Sundar not making the team despite playing for the national side.

“How Sundar sneaks into the best 15 of India but doesn’t get a place in any IPL XI when 10 teams exist is a mystery,” the fan posted on social media platform X (formerly called Twitter). The post got a reply from Google CEO Sundar Pichai who commented on the post: “I have been wondering this too.”

https://twitter.com/sundarpichai/status/1904662965636522129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Shubman Gill reflected on his team’s narrow 11-run defeat against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their opening game of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) in Ahmedabad.

Gill acknowledged that Gujarat had their moments but failed to capitalize on key phases.

“We got our chances when we were bowling and batting. Too many runs we conceded in the back end of the innings…Those three overs in the middle, we scored around 18 runs. That, and our first three overs we didn’t score many runs. That cost us the game,” he said after the game, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

Despite the loss, Gill found positives in his team’s performance.

“Apart from that, many positives for us today. Not easy for someone to come and deliver those yorkers for someone who is on the bench. It’s always a good wicket to bat on here,” he added.

Gujarat Titans will now look to bounce back in their upcoming matches, learning from their mistakes in the season opener.

(With ANI inputs)