Sai Sudharsan became the latest victim of one of cricket’s rarest and most unfortunate modes of dismissal when he was given out hit wicket during Gujarat Titans’ chase against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2026 Qualifier 1 at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Tuesday. What made the dismissal even more cruel was the timing of it. Sudharsan had just middled a boundary off Jacob Duffy, only for his bat to come back and dislodge the bails behind him in the same motion, bringing his innings to a heartbreaking end for 14 runs.
GT captain Shubman Gill summed up the mood perfectly when he said: “You don’t see that kind of dismissal very often. So that was very unfortunate.”
Hit wicket dismissals are genuinely among the most uncommon sights in cricket and in the IPL’s nearly two-decade history, only a handful of batters have fallen victim to this peculiar mode of dismissal. What makes it particularly painful is that the batter brings about their own downfall, with no involvement from the bowler beyond delivering the ball.
Interestingly, this is not even the first time Sudharsan himself has been dismissed in this manner in the IPL. He was previously given out hit wicket against Mumbai Indians off the bowling of Kieron Pollard back in 2022, also for 14 runs, making him the only batter in IPL history to have been dismissed hit wicket twice in the tournament.
Complete List of Hit Wicket Dismissals in IPL History:
Musavir Khote, 8 runs, vs PBKS, bowled Sreesanth, 2008
Misbah, 21 runs, vs PBKS, bowled Sreesanth, 2008
S Asnodkar, 10 runs, vs CSK, bowled A Morkel, 2009
R Jadeja, 48 runs, vs DEC, bowled Steyn, 2012
S Tiwary, 21 runs, vs MI, bowled Harbhajan, 2012
Yuvraj Singh, 39 runs, vs MI, bowled McClenaghan, 2016
Deepak Hooda, 10 runs, vs DC, bowled Coulternile, 2016
D Warner, 52 runs, vs PBKS, bowled Axar, 2016
S Jackson, 10 runs, vs RPS, bowled Washington, 2017
R Parag, 47 runs, vs KKR, bowled Russell, 2019
Hardik Pandya, 18 runs, vs KKR, bowled Russell, 2020
Rashid Khan, 14 runs, vs CSK, bowled Shardul, 2020
J Bairstow, 43 runs, vs MI, bowled Krunal, 2021
Sai Sudharsan, 14 runs, vs MI, bowled Pollard, 2022
Badoni, 30 runs, vs RCB, bowled W Parnell, 2023
A Manohar, 43 runs, vs MI, bowled Boult, 2025
Krunal, 8 runs, vs SRH, bowled Cummins, 2025
K Mendis, 20 runs, vs MI, bowled Santner, 2025
Sai Sudharsan, 14 runs, vs RCB, bowled Duffy, 2026
The list reads as a who’s who of IPL batting, featuring names like David Warner, Yuvraj Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan, and Jonny Bairstow, all of whom fell victim to this dismissal at some point in their IPL careers. Warner’s dismissal for 52 against PBKS in 2016 remains the highest score by any batter to be given out hit wicket in the tournament’s history.
With 19 instances across 19 seasons, hit wicket dismissals average out to roughly one per season in the IPL, underlining just how rare and remarkable each occurrence truly is. Sudharsan’s misfortune on Tuesday, however, will be remembered not just for its rarity but for the manner in which it arrived at the most critical moment of a high-stakes playoff encounter.
