NEWS
Follow UsIt was yet another batting masterclass from Ruturaj Gaikwad, who followed his century in the last game against Lucknow Super Giants with a 98 against Sunrisers Hyderabad. So impactful was his knock that on a visibly tough wicket, he aced Chennai Super Kings to 220.
For a batter who mostly plays the classical brand of cricket without really trying to go arial most of the time, Gaikwad has done really well in the shortest format of the game. That’s possibly down to how he has combined his flair for runs with his street-smart tactics, which found a great fan in CSK batting coach Michael Hussey, who himself had carved a niche for himself in a very similar fashion.
“He's a great talent, has great timing and great placement, smart batsman as well. He knows when to attack; when to maybe soak up a bit of pressure. He plays spin bowling so well, plays fast bowling well, he can score all around the ground. He's almost one step ahead of the bowler most of the time. He's wonderful to watch,” Hussey said in the post-match press conference after CSK’s 78-run win over SRH.
“I'm really happy for him. And in fact, a lot of our younger players sitting in the sidelines, [I] sit with them and talk to them about what we're seeing with Ruturaj. Why has he been playing so good, how does he construct an innings. So they are great learning experiences for our younger players to see how he goes about it. Because it was another masterclass tonight, it really was,” the Aussie added.
When Gaikwad was handed the reins of leading CSK in the IPL 2024, he was expected to bring that smartness to his decision-making and he has done a reasonably good job in keeping CSK in contention for the playoffs spot. Hussey felt that that attribute was very important for him to figure out his own game.
“I think he is one of the smartest players going around and he assesses the conditions so well. He even said to me, 'It's a shame we're not playing in Kolkata or it's a shame we're not playing in Delhi.' Maybe, in those particular grounds, if he assesses the conditions, he might think about going aerial early.
“But perhaps here, when he takes a little bit of time to get settled on the pitch - it has certainly shown a few times here that with the brand new ball, it has stuck a little bit on the pitch and then as the dew comes, that's when the seam becomes softer and it can skid on - that's when he can increase his strike-rate after.
“But initially, you need to sometimes take a bit of care, and play some good shots along the ground. And that's where his placement has been so good and his strike rate is so good as well. He knows his game so well, and that's a message to our younger guys as well, figuring out what your game is,” the CSK batting coach concluded.
