Former Australia batter Michael Hussey on Thursday (December 1) showered rich praise on Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has impressed one and all with his meteoric rise in recent years.

Gaikwad was roped in by CSK at the IPL 2019 auction for INR 20 lakh. While the right-hander didn’t get an opportunity in 2019, he scored 204 runs in 6 matches in the 2022 season.

However, Gaikwad’s breakthrough year came in 2021 when he finished as the highest run-getter (635 runs in 16 matches) in CSK’s triumphant campaign. As a result, he was retained by the franchise ahead of the 2022 edition of IPL for INR 6 crore.

Being a batting coach of CSK, Hussey has observed Ruturaj Gaikwad from close quarters and he hailed him as a “self-made" cricketer.

"He obviously watches Dhoni very closely. And the other impressive thing about him is he picks up things that other players don’t pick up that quickly. He is a self-made cricketer and obviously you need help along the way and he is quite good at picking up new things from other players," Hussey told The Indian Express.

He also praised Gaikwad's ability to assess the game and touted him as a calm person with leadership qualities.

“I’m not sure what the plans for the future at CSK, but like Dhoni, he is very calm. He is actually very calm when it comes to handling the pressure like Dhoni and he is a very good reader of the game and as I said earlier, he is very observant and I think people are drawn to him because of his nature, character and personality and they like being around him. He has got some excellent leadership qualities."

Ruturaj Gaikwad has taken the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2022 by storm with his dazzling batting display. He has slammed seven centuries from nine innings in the ongoing List A tournament, leading Maharashtra to the final, where they will face Saurashtra on December 2.

“When he gets going, he is such a wonderful player that you find it hard to stop. Even when we are at CSK, the discussions have been about the bigger picture, which is India," Hussey said.

"I know the competition is tough and there are a lot of good players in India, so you have to keep scoring runs. And not 50s and 60s or just a 100. If you get in and make a hundred, you have to make it like 150 or 200."