Ruturaj Gaikwad Prioritizes Team Total Over Personal Milestones
In a spectacular display of cricketing prowess, the defending champions Chennai secured a convincing victory against Hyderabad, winning by 78 runs in the 46th league match of the IPL 2024 T20 cricket series. The match, held at Chepauk, witnessed a formidable performance by the Chennai team, led by their captain Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Chennai, batting first, set a daunting target of 213 runs for Hyderabad, scoring 212/3 in their allotted 20 overs. Ruturaj Gaikwad led from the front, narrowly missing out on a century by scoring an impressive 98 runs off 54 balls. His innings was supported by Daryl Mitchell 52 off 32 balls and Shivam Dubey unbeaten 39 off 20 balls.
Hyderabad, in response, struggled to chase the target and were bowled out for just 134 runs in 18.5 overs. Chennai bowlers, particularly Tushar Deshpande with 4 wickets, Mustafizur Rahman and Matheesha Pathirana with 2 wickets each, dismantled Hyderabad’s batting lineup.
Despite his stellar performance, Ruturaj Gaikwad expressed disappointment at not being able to lead his team to a total of 220+ runs. “Feeling good. Good performance to win by 70+ runs in humid conditions,” Ruturaj said in the post-match interview. “It was a blessing not to win the toss. I didn’t think about the century. I wanted to score 220+ runs. However, I was disappointed to miss 4-5 shots in the last over. I was upset during the innings break thinking it would have made the difference in the win. Fortunately, this total was enough to win.”
Reflecting on the game, Ruturaj highlighted the importance of learning from mistakes. “We made some mistakes in the last match. But our fielding was good in this match. You don’t know what the winning score is due to the impact player rule. So always you have to take 20 runs extra. Picking wickets in the power play can make the opposition walk backward. Deshpande’s hard work has been rewarded for doing it today”.
Ruturaj also emphasized the pivotal role played by Ravindra Jadeja in the match. “Similarly, Jadeja’s 22 in humid conditions was the turning point in the match. Senior players cannot be told what to do. So you have to sit back and let them do their job,” he said.
In Ruturaj Gaikwad outstanding performance with the bat, combined with his astute leadership, played a crucial role in Chennai victory. His focus on team success over personal milestones exemplifies his dedication to the game and his team’s cause.
