The renowned commentator, Harsha Bhogle, has called Ruturaj Gaikwad the ‘next superstar’ of Indian cricket as he feels the batter has performed consistently in the last three to four games, during India’s away T20I series against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club.
The Indian squad for the five-match series had so many openers. With a huge competition for the opening slot, Ruturaj Gaikwad has been the perfect candidate to bat at number three. He has a calm nature which generally helps in playing the anchor role, whereas his excellent technique against the spinners always comes as a bonus in the middle overs.
The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain was in great touch during the recent Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, where he ended up as the second-highest run-getter of the tournament. Gaikwad notched up 583 runs in 14 innings, at an average of 53, and a strike rate of 141.16, with four half-centuries and one century.
‘If Ruturaj Gaikwad doesn’t make it to the team, then….’- Harsha Bhogle
In a recent discussion with Cricbuzz, Harsha Bhogle spoke highly about the Maharashtra captain in the domestic circuit, about his different levels of batting.
‘If you came out of nowhere, saw Ruturaj Gaikwad batting in his last 3-4 matches and you say if he doesn’t make it to the team, then this Indian team must be from another planet. He’s the next superstar.’ He expressed on Cricbuzz.
The right-handed opening batter finished the Zimbabwe series as the fourth-highest run-getter, with 133 runs in three innings, at an average of 66.50, and a strike rate of around 160, with the best knock of an unbeaten 77 runs.
With two of the veteran India players- Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli taking retirement from the shortest format of the game, two opening positions are up for grabs, as Gaikwad finds himself in a very good place to cement his opening position. The way he has performed in this Zimbabwe series, it should be enough for him to earn the spot in the Sri Lanka trip.
Since being part of the CSK franchise in 2021, Ruturaj has never looked back, as he has been consistent in the last few seasons. The way he has handled the pressure, and shown his classic game with proper technique, tells that he could perfectly play the Virat Kohli role in the shortest format of the game.
When it comes to scoring runs for the Super Kings, in T20s, Ruturaj Gaikwad is the fourth highest run-getter with 2380 runs in 65 innings, at an average of 41.75, with a strike rate of 136.86, with 18 half-centuries and a couple of hundreds, at the best score of unbeaten 108-runs.
The 27-year-old has made a great start too in the T20Is, having collected 633 runs in 20 innings, at an average of nearly 40, and a strike rate of over 140, with four half-centuries and one hundred.
When he was asked to take the number three position, Kohli, the CSK captain called it a huge topic, and that it wasn’t the right point of time to think about that. In his words, Gaikwad’s aim at the moment is playing his own game.
‘It is actually a huge topic, and it isn’t the right point to think about it, compare with him or even try to fill his shoes because it is relatively very tough and hard.’ Ruturaj Gaikwad expressed during the Zimbabwe series. ‘As I said during the IPL as well, it is difficult to fill Mahi bhai’s shoes. You want to start your own career, play your own game and that is the priority right now.’
Meanwhile, the former India leg-spinner Amit Mishra feels that Gaikwad would be the viable option to lead India in future T20Is.