Chennai Super Kings star batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad performed brilliantly in the opening match of IPL 2023, as he scored a valiant 92 off just 50 deliveries. Gaikwad fell merely 8 runs short of repeating Brendon McCullum’s heroics, as he could’ve become only the second batter to score a century in the first match of the season.
Talking about his extraordinary performance, former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag lauded the CSK opener and made a strong remark. The legendary opener name dropped Virat Kohli in massive praise towards the 26-year-old batter.
“I often use these words for Virat Kohli, but the way he batted today, it was a real joy to my eyes. That’s the way he batted. No one was able to connect shots (for CSK) in that innings, everyone was getting out early, but he continued with his strong shots. He scored more sixes than fours in his innings! And that’s when he doesn’t have a reputation of scoring sixes,” Sehwag said.
“Yes, he did hit seven sixes in an over in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy domestic tournament last season. And I don’t think that record will ever be broken. This was a brilliant innings. I think he would be disappointed to not score a century, and the height call on delivery was debatable. But then again, umpire’s decision is paramount,” Sehwag further said.
Batting first, CSK set a target of 179 runs at the loss of 7 wickets. Batting second, GT took the match to the last over and won the thriller by 5 wickets.