Ruturaj Gaikwad’s performances have impressed Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming who believes he is the right player for CSK. CSK did not have the best of seasons in 2020. The 3-time champions and title contenders happened to be the first team to crash out of the race for the Indian Premier League 2020 playoffs as they suffered their eighth loss.
It is for the first time that CSK have failed to get into the top-four by qualifying for playoffs in IPL history. But there have been some positives that have come out in the last few matches.
Ruturaj Gaikwad Is Right Player For Chennai: Stephen Fleming
Ruturaj Gaikwad was touted as one of the players that could provide a boost to the ageing CSK batting line-up consisting of non-performers like Murali Vijay and Kedar Jadhav. After some initial struggle, he has found his touch by scoring back-to-back fifties to power his side to victory against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders. He was MOM in both matches scoring unbeaten 65 and 72 respectively.
His performances have greatly impressed CSK coach Stephen Fleming, who thinks he is the right player for CSK as he has scored 142 runs averaging 35.5 with 2 fifties. The three-time champions have just one game left to play in the competition against KXIP after a disastrous start in IPL 2020 held their prospects of moving ahead.
Stephen Fleming was lavish in his praise for Ruturaj Gaikwad who shone in the win with a 72-run knock, displaying the spark that skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni did not see in the youngsters of the side.
“He has done well in the last couple of games. We’re happy that he’s taken the opportunity. We look back at the missed opportunities when he got COVID-19. He missed out the pre-season, he came back after about 4-5 weeks in isolation,” Fleming recalled.
“We tried to get him involved but he was a long way from being ready. So we’re just happy now to create the opportunity and he has shown us that he’s the right player,” he added.
CSK dented Kolkata Knight Riders’ chances of advancing to the knockouts with a six-wicket win and have only one match left against Kings XI Punjab on 1st November while KKR play against Rajasthan on the same day later in the evening. KKR are 6th while CSK are 8th despite the loss.
Stephen Fleming And MS Dhoni Praises Ruturaj Gaikwad
Stephen Fleming also lauded Ruturaj Gaikwad’s timing and described him as a very fluent player.
“He has got lovely timing, a very fluent player. It allows him to hit the ball in the gaps, a lot of power for a small guy.
“His net sessions in Chennai before we arrived here were outstanding and we’re disappointed that he had to miss the first two or three weeks with us,” the former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming added.
CSK captain MS Dhoni had also hailed Ruturaj Gaikwad after the match and said that he was one of the most talented players around.