Gujarat Titans benching Washington Sundar baffles fans… and cricket lover Sundar Pichai too

Google CEO and cricket lover Sundar Pichai has weighed in on an ‘IPL mystery’ - why did Gujarat Titans bench Washington Sundar from their playing XI?

Published on: Mar 26, 2025, 08:44:14 IST

By Sanya Jain

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Google CEO and cricket lover Sundar Pichai has weighed in on an ‘IPL mystery’ - why did Gujarat Titans bench Washington Sundar from their playing XI?

Sundar vs Sundar: Google CEO responds to an X post on his namesake.

Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill won the toss and elected to field against Punjab Kings in their opening match of the IPL 2025 at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Both Washington Sundar and Glen Phillips have found themselves on the bench - leaving many cricket fans confused and questioning the decision.

One such confused fan took to the social media platform X to ponder the mystery, and received a response from the CEO of Google.

The exchange

“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,” cricket fan Pushkar posted on the social media platform X.

Sundar Pichai responded to this post on his namesake. “I have been wondering this too,” replied the Indian-American executive, adding a smiley at the end.

Pushkar, probably surprised to see the CEO of Google replying to his post, decided to try his luck. He asked Pichai if he could be recruited for a job at Google, his query leaving viewers in splits.

“Sir, give me a job in Google now that you have replied,” wrote Pushkar.

The reactions

Pichai’s post drew thousands of amused reactions, but some asked him to focus on Google.

“You give the vibe of the founder who’d start getting active on twitter just before the launch and get back to product once done,” wrote one X user.

“Sundar from Washington wondering about Washington Sundar... Didn’t expect this at 5:11 AM,” another joked.

One person called the exchange “actually insane.” Another wrote: “Lmfao why is he replying random accounts? Doesn't he have work to do?”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sanya Jain
Sanya Jain is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times Digital. She has nearly a decade of experience in covering offbeat stories that speak to the everyday experience - from viral videos to human interest copies that spark conversation. Her interests stretch across business, pop culture, social media trends, entertainment and global affairs. Before joining Hindustan Times, Sanya spent two years with Moneycontrol and five years with NDTV. She holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and a master’s in journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai. Sanya has a sharp eye for spotting emerging trends and looking for newsworthy angles to elevate viral posts into meaningful narratives. She was the first one, for example, to cover Narayana Murthy’s remark on 70-hour work weeks that sparked a national conversation. She is equally at ease writing about business leaders as about the common man, about issues of national importance and memes that amuse social media. Sanya enjoys speaking with content creators, newsmakers and entrepreneurs to transform everyday moments into engaging, slice-of-life stories that resonate with readers. When she is not working, Sanya can be found curled up with a good book. Born and raised in Lucknow, she has spent the last several years in Delhi. She is deeply interested in animal welfare and now spends a lot of her time running after her destructive orange cat.Read More

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