Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings will face each other in their final league stage encounter of IPL 2026 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday. Ahead of the much-awaited clash, Gujarat Titans star opener Sai Sudarshan revealed about his deep emotional bond with CSK, the franchise he has grown up idolising.Sai Sudarshan has once again enjoyed a stellar IPL campaign and continues his rise as one of the most consistent batsmen in the league. After winning the Orange Cap in IPL 2025 with a brilliant innings of 759 runs, the 24-year-old has maintained his form in IPL 2026 as well and remains firmly in the race for another dominant season. Despite a relatively quiet start to the campaign, Sudarshan has rediscovered top gear and crossed the 500-run mark for the second consecutive season. In 13 matches so far, the stylish left-hander has scored 554 runs and is currently placed fourth in the Orange Cap standings heading into GT’s final league clash.Ahead of the CSK clash, Sudarshan reflected on one of the most memorable innings of his IPL career, his maiden IPL century against Chennai Super Kings in Ahmedabad in 2024. Speaking on JioStar about his maiden IPL century against CSK, Sudarshan admitted that the innings holds extra emotional significance because of his childhood association with the Chennai-based franchise.“It wasn’t a conscious decision; I think it was God’s grace, and it came at the right time. But spending time in between is always special, especially when I play against CSK because, whatever is said and done, I have a deep emotional connection with CSK,” Sudarshan said.“I have grown up watching CSK play. We used to stand on the road to watch the team bus pass by our school. Those are great memories.” I am thankful to God that I was able to put up some memorable performances against CSK,” he said.Sai Sudarshan played a brilliant inning of 103 runs in just 51 balls and made a record opening partnership of 210 runs with the captain. Shubman GillWho also scored 104 runs on 55 balls. This stand equaled the record for the highest opening partnership in IPL history, which was previously made by KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock in 2022.