‘We had no high expectations : Ruturaj Gaikwad’s father opens up on his son’s brilliant 99
Ruturaj Gaikwad (Image Source : BCCI/IPL)
Hyderabad took on Chennai in the 46th match of the Indian T20 League 2022. The match took place at the MCA Stadium in Pune.
Fans will remember the match for the excellent batting display from the openers of the men in yellow. The duo formed an epic partnership of 182 runs for the first wicket. On the back of the brilliant exploits by their openers, Chennai was able to reach a mammoth total of 202 runs from their 20 overs.
One of the biggest positives for Chennai from the match was Ruturaj Gaikwad regaining his form. Gaikwad played a wonderful knock of 99 runs from 57 deliveries. While he missed a well-deserved hundred, the whole cricketing fraternity praised his innings and said that the value of the 99 was in no way less than a century. The innings was a treat to watch for everyone, but Gaikwad will be particularly happy about the fact that his parents were present in the corporate box and watched the innings unfold live.
Dasarath Gaikwad, Ruturaj’s father spoke about his son missing out on the hundred in a conversation with ‘The Indian Express’ . He said – “We had seen an earlier match at the stadium but this was the first match we were watching from the corporate box. There was no pressure on us whatsoever. We just wanted to see him play live rather than on the TV, which we always do. But we had no high expectations. It’s a game, after all . Anything can happen anytime.”
Dilip Vengsarkar heaps praises on Ruturaj
Meanwhile, former Indian batter Dilip Vengsarkar is pretty impressed by Ruturaj’s elegance and technique. Vengsarkar was particularly excited by the way he handled the young tearaway pacer, Umran Malik. He also opined that as far technique and temperament are concerned, Ruturaj is ready to play Test cricket.
“In his earlier match, Umran had shattered the stumps of a few batters. But in this match, Ruturaj handled him upfront and with aplomb. The way Ruturaj played the speedster’s fast deliveries, especially the short ones, should make the selectors happy. Indian players, of late, have found pace and bounce impossible to tackle. Ruturaj was confident personified against the short ones as he stood up and played with ease. I think the selectors should not waste any time in drafting Ruturaj into India’s Test side,”- said Vengsarkar. Notably, Ruturaj has been a part of the Indian national team for three T20Is so far.
