Ruturaj Gaikwad steadied the ship for Chennai Super Kings after they were reduced to 24 for 4 at the end of the powerplay.
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Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opener Ruturaj Gaikwad is now the first player to record scores in excess of 50 runs in four consecutive innings in the UAE. Ruturaj helped the Chennai-based franchise post a target of 157 runs in the opener of the second half of IPL 2021 against Mumbai Indians (MI). The young cricketer smashed 88 runs off 58 deliveries in an innings comprising of nine boundaries and four sixes, to help CSK recover having been reduced to 24/4 in nearly six overs.
Ruturaj had earlier registered an unbeaten 62 off 49 deliveries in an innings against Punjab Kings (PBKS) during the 2020 edition of IPL. The opener had recorded scores of 72(53) and 65*(51) when taking on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) respectively in the same edition. Ruturaj has now accumulated the second highest individual score in encounters between CSK and MI in the history of IPL. The opener received quality support from all-rounder Dwayne Bravo who smashed 23 runs off 8 deliveries in an innings comprising of three sixes. However, none of the other batsmen could make much of an impact with Ruturaj the only player who could give skipper MS Dhoni some solace after opting to bat.
Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat in the IPL 2021 encounter, which marked the resumption of the second half of the prestigious tournament. However, MI skipper Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Hardik Pandya were not a part of the lineup, with Kieron Pollard leading the franchise instead. Pollard played down talk over the absence of Rohit, further mentioning the debut handed to Anmolpreet Singh. Sam Curran missed out for the Chennai-based franchise, with Bravo a part of the lineup having enjoyed success in the recently concluded edition of CPL.
Dhoni termed his decision to bat as being influenced by the quality of the wicket.
“We will bat first, looks like a good wicket. Setting a target will be a better option. It’s the same for everyone. I can’t say if it’s a good break or not. Once tournament starts, you get into some sort of rhythm but this season it’s new and maybe us cricketers will start loving it. Seven games, then a break, and seven more. It comes down to how you play on that day in the shortest form. We’ll try to do the basics right and focus on the process. Sam is not available. Faf, Moeen, Bravo and Josh are playing this game,” stated the CSK skipper as quoted by Cricbuzz.
Pollard expressed happiness over losing the toss.
“We weren’t so sure, so happy that I lost the toss. Rohit is okay, he’ll be fine sooner rather than later, I’m just the captain for today. We started a couple of months back, and we were just starting to build the momentum with a couple of wins. Rohit misses out, Hardik is not playing as well. Anmolpreet makes his debut, that’s about it, all others are regular players,” stated the all-rounder.
