It was a facile display of batting by Chennai Super Kings’ opener Ruturaj Gaikwad who scored a 50-ball 92 against the Gujarat Titans on Friday. The Maharastra-based batter hogged the limelight with his extraordinary shots over extra cover and also some massive pull shots but still, he could not save CSK from losing the match against Gujarat by five wickets at Ahmedabad.
However, at one point in time, Gujarat’s bowlers were clueless as to where to bowl him as he was unstoppable, hitting away good balls also. As a result, his unparalleled skills with the bat have stunned Gujarat skipper Hardik Pandya.
“At one point, it looked like CSK would score 220-230. We were finding it difficult on what area we should bowl at Ruturaj. I genuinely felt that today we could not get him out at all,” Pandya told reporters.
“Some of the shots that he played were not bad balls, he was punishing the good balls as well. As a bowling unit and as a captain, that made my job more difficult,” he said.
After CSK batted first, it was Ruturaj who took the onus on his shoulders and played some beautiful shots all around the park. With the help of his willow, CSK posted a fighting total of 178/7. He ended up collecting as many as eight sixes during his 92-run innings.
“Some of the shots Rutu played was nothing to do with the bowling. He played some outrageous shots. Full credit to him the way he batted and if he continues to do so he is going to do wonders for Indian cricket.
“He has the game and I am sure when the time comes Indian cricket team will back him enough,” he said.
In reply to CSK’s 178, Shubman Gill starred with the bat for Gujarat as he made a hard-fought 35-ball 63 and sailed his team’s boat. Coming down the order, Rashid Khan (3-ball 10) and Rahul Tewatia (14-ball 15) played useful hands and helped Gujarat with a 5-wicket victory.