Chennai Super Kings opener Ruturaj Gaikwad came roaring back into form with a brilliant 99 off 57 balls under leadership of MS Dhoni, putting on 182 runs for the opening wicket with Devon Conway against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Sunday (May 1). The Gaikwad-Conway opening tango set up CSK’s 13-run win over SRH and kept them in hunt for a chance to make the IPL 2022 Playoffs.
En route his brilliant knock, the CSK opener completed 1,000 runs in the IPL as well. Gaikwad has taken just 31 innings to complete the feat making him the joint-fastest Indian ever to reach the milestone. He equalled Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar’s feat, who had also taken 31 innings to reach the milestone while playing for the Mumbai Indians (MI).
Fastest Indians to 1000 runs (innings):
Sachin Tendulkar - 31
Ruturaj Gaikwad - 31
Suresh Raina - 34
Devdutt Padikkal - 35
Rishabh Pant - 35
Gaikwad had made his debut in the 2020 IPL for CSK where he failed to mark initially. However, he bounced back in style to end the tournament with three back-to-back half-centuries which made him first-choice opener for the 2021 season.
Gaikwad established himself as one of the best young batters in India during the 2021 season as he helped CSK win the title while forming a brilliant opening pair with Faf du Plessis. Gaikwad won the Orange Cap for scoring 635 runs at an average of 45.35.
Fastest 1k Milestone Run with the 99! #SRHvCSK #Yellove #WhistlePodu pic.twitter.com/0Q6IpPrW82
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) May 1, 2022
Gaikwad, who was adjudged the Player-of-the-match as well, said he was pleased that the 99-run knock came in a win.
“It felt good, better that it came in a win. There will be times when good balls come in and bad luck but with a good support staff you have faith. You have to start from 0, so I do not believe in form. I feel playing pace brings the best out of me,” Gaikwad said at the post-match presentation.
On facing short deliveries from SRH pace spearhead Umran Malik and the likes of Marco Jansen, Gaikwad said, “I did not expect it. There are some types of balls which bowlers cannot always execute, it's also two off six. So, I know when it’s not coming, but I do work on it. I told Devon he can take his time, I know the ground and that runs come along as he plays along.”
