Young Ruturaj Gaikwad, who scored back to back half-centuries in the last three matches for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), has broken his silence on captain MS Dhoni’s “no spark in youngsters” comment.
Dhoni’s words in one of the post-match interviews grabbed the headlines during CSK’s poor run in IPL 2020. Reacting to the same, Gaikwad said that he was more focussed on his job as a player and did not read much about Dhoni’s remarks.
“I didn’t read much into what MS had said and I never felt he intended that way,” Ruturaj was quoted as saying by Telegraph.
“He must have thought of something and said, but people took it the other way. What he said didn’t matter to me or didn’t even get to my head,” he added.
Gaikwad also revealed that Dhoni always helped him in the nets and used to advise him by saying: “Just make sure your process is right and don’t worry about the results.”
Touted to be a player to watch out for in the IPL, Gaikwad didn’t have the best of starts as he managed to score just five runs in the first three games.
He was dropped from the final XI and got another opportunity only after CSK’s exit from the play-offs race. Gaikwad went on to grab the second chance with both hands and showed his batting prowess for the first time against Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
FIFTY!
A well made maiden IPL half-century for𓄧 Ruturaj Gaikwad.
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL)
His unbeaten 65 vs RCB was followed by a 72-run knock against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and 62 not out vs Kings XI Punjab (KXIP).
A very well deserved 💖Man of the ൲Match award for Ruturaj Gaikwad 👏👏
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL)
