Gaikwad reflects on the invaluable guidance MSD gave him prior to his debut.
Gaikwad reflects on the invaluable guidance MSD gave him prior to his debut. Ruturaj Gaikwad is a well-known player for the Chennai Super Kings team in the Indian Premier League. Over the years, he has become more important as his team’s opener and has scored a lot of runs. Gaikwad’s incredible performance in the IPL also helped him get on the Indian squad for the Sri Lanka tour last year. Since then, he has been a part of nine T20Is for India. Gaikwad, who is 25 years old, could not have asked for a better place to grow up than CSK. Indeed, it was under MS Dhoni’s umbrella that he became known and quickly moved up the ranks.
Gaikwad only got to play six games for CSK in 2020, but the following year, in 2021, he blew up the charts. He ended the season with 635 runs, which made him the top run-scorer and won him the Orange Cap. Gaikwad talked to students at the Super Kings Academy in Chennai about his first IPL game under Dhoni. He told them what the CSK captain told him before his debut against the Rajasthan Royals.
Dhoni’s words of wisdom
“When I made my debut, he (MS Dhoni) was very clear. He said to enjoy the game. Representing this franchise is a huge achievement, a lot of great players have been part of this dressing room, and a lot of greats have been involved with this franchise. So, I think he just said that ‘You just need to be in that moment and enjoy it’,” he Gaikwad.
Gaikwad also talked about how he used to bat in the middle of the lineup and got out for a golden duck on his first try. But the management’s faith in him and Dhoni’s support helped him find his feet in the end. Gaikwad showed his true class and was a big reason why CSK won their fourth IPL title.
Image Source Link“I really need to be thankful and grateful that I was in a really good team which has a very good environment. Also, having MS Dhoni around me helped a lot as well. In that process, I never felt that I was having a setback. If I look back now, yes, I had failures to start off with, but the management, the team and the coach made me feel (good). I would give a lot of credit to the whole CSK team, the captain and coach,” Gaikwad explained.