Ruturaj Gaikwad seen wearing his wife Utkarsha Pawar’s jersey number during MPL 2023 clash

Star Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter, Ruturaj Gaikwad grabbed all the attention as he helped his side Puneri Bappa comprehensively beat Kolhapur Tuskers by eight wickets in the opening match of the Maharashtra Premier League (MPL) at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Thursday, June 15. He recently got married to his long-time girlfriend, Utkarsha Pawar, after the completion of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and was seen wearing her jersey number T-Shirt in the match.

The Pune-based franchise decided to bowl first, limiting Kolhapur to 144 runs with 72 runs off 57 balls from Ankit Bawne, who hit five fours and three sixes. In the meantime, Sachin Bhosale and Piyush Salvi took six wickets each by slicing through the top and middle order. In response, Gaikwad’s deadly hitting was on full display as he aggressively destroyed the opposing bowling unit. Gaikwad scored fifty off 22 balls and partnered with Pavan Shah to score 110 runs to keep Pune in control.

Watch it here:

Ruturaj Gaikwad was seen wearing jersey no 13 which is same of his wife Utkarsh

What a lovely couple pic.twitter.com/VolCAePu9Q

— Muffadal Vohra (@_mufadal_vohra_) June 15, 2023

MPL to follow the same module as that of IPL

In his quick 27-ball 64 at a blistering strike rate of 237.04, the flamboyant right-hander hit as many as five maximums and five boundaries. Shreyash Chavan, however, sent him packing as he hit the ball to Bawne, and his stunning knock came to an end. In the meantime, Pavan also reached his half-century, scoring 57 runs in 48 balls, including six boundaries and a single maximum. In the first match of the competition, Puneri Bappa was comfortably defeated by eight wickets in 14.1 overs by Yash Kshirsagar and Suraj Shinde.

Ruturaj Gaikwad won Player of the Match honours for his outstanding innings. It is important to note that the batter had a good IPL 2023 season, scoring 590 runs at an excellent average of 42.14 in 16 games for the Chennai Super Kings, scoring four half-centuries. On Sunday, June 18, Puneri Bappa will face Chhatrapati Sambhaji Kings in their next match.

If we talk about the tournament, the Maharashtra Premier League, it kicked off on June 15, where six teams are locking horns against each other in order to clinch the title. All the matches of MPL 2023 will be played at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Ground, in Pune. According to MCA, MPL will follow the same module that of IPL and the tournament will be broadcasted on DD Sports and on online platforms.