IPL 2020 | Not a single player apart from Gaikwad has shouldered the game this IPL, feels Manoj Tiwary

After accumulating 0,5 and 0 in his first three matches for Chennai Super Kings, Ruturaj Gaikwad would’ve been forgiven for lacking confidence in his own abilities but he took a completely different approach. Back at his regular position, Gaikwad punished the RCB, KKR and KXIP bowlers on his way to 65*, 72, 62* in three games on bounce, ensuring a respectable finish for the franchise. Manoj Tiwary became a big fan of Gaikwad for the way he shouldered responsibilities, with a calm disposition - a trait, Tiwary feels, made MS Dhoni special in a run-chase.

“Ruturaj will be retained by CSK. He is an Indian player and will always stick with him. I can see MS Dhoni’s chasing mind in Ruturaj. Not a single player apart from him has shouldered the game this IPL. The way he was taking calculated risks were quite brilliant. He played according to the situation, looked for shots accordingly and that was quite amazing,” Tiwary said on Cricbuzz Live.

Murali Kartik was also similar in his assessment and found a lot of confidence in the way the opener approached his game despite being written off due to three consecutive failures. The classy way he played the shots and the range he found attracted Kartik the most.

“Ruturaj Gaikwad showed a lot of maturity in the knock he played three games earlier against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Despite not scoring a lot of runs, if you could hit with that confidence, you prove your talent and worth. 

“Everyone is talking about him and it is good that he scored runs despite not having a great start to the tournament. The shot selection and the range that he showed is all class. Many people scores runs but the way you do it also matters. Some of his shots showed that he has a different level of pedigree,” Kartik said on the same show.