Gaikwad's unbeaten 88 took CSK to 156 despite losing 4 wickets in the powerplay.
The Chennai-based franchise was reduced to 24/4 with Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, and Ambati Rayudu (retired hurt) back in the dressing room. While MS Dhoni-led team was hoping for a respectable total, Gaikwad’s unbeaten 88(58) took his side to a competitive total of 156 runs.
CSK won the match by 20 runs after MI managed just 136 runs. Gaikwad was also adjudged as the Man of the Match for his epic batting innings.
Ruturaj Gaikwad in a conversation with his teammate Deepak Chahar spoke about how he tackled the tough situation.
“This is my fifth Man of the Match Award in 13 games. Obviously, the situation was tough, we had lost our top-order. It was about taking the responsibility and finding a way to reach 120-130. I spent some time in the middle and I reassessed the target,” the right-hander told Chahar in a video shared on iplt20.com.
IPL 2021: "One of my top innings till now," Ruturaj Gaikwad rates his knock against Mumbai Indians
“I talked with Ravindra Jadeja about building a partnership. Actually, we have had good preparation, we reached UAE before the other teams. We benefitted from practicing a lot,” he added.
WATCH - Ruturaj and Deepak decode #CSK’s win.@deepak_chahar9 takes up mic duties as he interviews @Ruutu1331 on his game-changing knock and gives insights into his powerplay bowling - by @NishadPaiVaidya
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) September 20, 2021
???????? https://t.co/nFlernFoIN #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/hGq3CBG4Xd
With this win under their belt, MS Dhoni and Co. have become table toppers by going ahead of Rishabh Pant’s Delhi Capitals on the basis of net run-rate as both teams have 12 points to their names.
(ANI inputs)