Young Indian opener Ruturaj Gaikwad has opened up about the hype around him of being India’s all-format player and the future skipper of the Indian team. The 26-year-old will be leading the young Indian side in the Asian Games 2023 in the absence of experienced Indian players.

Ruturaj Gaikwad is one of the emerging stars in Indian cricket, as he showed excellent temperament to excel in all three formats of the game in domestic cricket and has been performing consistently well for the Indian team in given opportunity and showed his class in the 2nd T20 game against Ireland to score his 2nd half-century in the T20 Internationals.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Ruturaj Gaikwad feels that the leadership role is a complicated one and revealed the advice of legendary MS Dhoni about the captaincy role and said that he does not pay attention to the social media, as he wants to give his best for the team on the field.

“I think leadership role is a very complicated thing, to be honest. What Mahi bhai always says is to take it one game at a time. Just be in the present moment, don’t worry about the future. Everyone creates hype and whatever it is”.

Ruturaj Gaikwad and MS Dhoni Credits: Twitter

“I am not the kind of person who does watch social media and hears things about what anyone is saying about me. I think this is one of the traits that I have learned at CSK. I am pretty much clear about giving my best in the field, coming back home, chilling with my friends,” Ruturaj Gaikwad said.

The Indian opener is an integral part of the CSK setup in the IPL playing an important role in the team’s victory in the 2021 and 2023 seasons. The Indian youngster is also part of the Chennai Super Kings leadership group under MS Dhoni and is seen as one of the potential candidates to take up the captaincy mantle post the era of MS Dhoni in IPL.

I Have The Luxury To Ear Up Some Balls Upfront – Ruturaj Gaikwad

On opening the batting for India, Ruturaj Gaikwad said that being an opener helps him to take some time in the middle before taking on the bowlers and emphasizes the middle-order batters’ role in the team as they will have less time to settle down in the game and feels that it is important as an opener to assess the conditions and play according to it.

“I think being an opener, I have the luxury to eat up some balls upfront. Face 10-15 balls, and then come back and cover,”

“It is difficult for batters coming in. Usually, there are fewer overs left. Sometimes 8 or 10. They cannot afford to play too many dot balls. Being an opener, it is always great to assess the wicket, play accordingly and figure out what shots you can play and what shots you can’t play,” Ruturaj Gaikwad added.

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, and Rinku Singh batted brilliantly on a bit slow wicket of Dublin in the 2nd T20 Internationals to help India post a massive total of 185-6 at the end of the 20 overs and a brilliant performance from the Indian bowlers helped the Indian side to win the game by 33-run at the end.