Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad while talking about his knock in an IPL 2021 encounter against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) said that skipper MS Dhoni and coach Stephen Fleming kept backing him and found positives even in failures.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 18 runs in their fourth match of IPL 14 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
Ruturaj Gaikwad didn’t have a great start to his IPL 2021 campaign. The right-handed batsman made scores of 5, 5, and 10 averaging just 6.67 after their first three games, and with the likes of Robin Uthappa warming the bench, the 24-year old was under pressure to perform.
He, however, was backed by the team management and repaid the faith by scoring 64 runs against KKR in CSK’s fourth match of the tournament. The 24-year-old stitched 115 runs opening partnership with Faf Duplessis, who scored unbeaten 95 runs, and helped his team post a mammoth target of 220 runs.
Talking about his innings Ruturaj Gaikwad said that he was fortunate to have a great start after having poor outings in the last three games. He added that the presence of experienced players in the dressing room makes the job of the youngsters easy.
“First three games I did not get a good start and thankfully I got a start today. When you have such experienced players in the dressing room, it makes your job easy,” Ruturaj Gaikwad told Star sports.
Gaikwad said that skipper MS Dhoni and coach Fleming backed him despite his failures and found positives even in his failures.
“To be honest (they spoke) nothing much, they just kept backing me and even that small innings in the last game they found some positives. They knew there were 1-2 good deliveries, the confidence was always there and when other players came up to have a chat, it feels really good,” he said.
Ruturaj Gaikwad further said that CSK carries the same attitude and intensity in every game.
“This is the same attitude and same intensity I carry in every game. I think it was holding up initially for the spinners and even now, this will be a very good score to defend,” he concluded.
With 18 runs victory over KKR, MS Dhoni-led side is now placed at the top of the points table. They will next face Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on 25th April at Mumbai.
(News 18 inputs)
