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Ruturaj Gaikwad shows why India team management has backed him
The opener hit a 35-ball 57 to help India beat South Africa in the third T20 in Visakhapatnam, translating his IPL form into an important performance for the country in the World Cup year.
In the last one year, Ruturaj Gaikwad has featured in three T20I series - in Sri Lanka last July, a home game against West Indies in February and three matches in a row now against South Africa. In between came two IPL editions - Gaikwad finished with 635 runs at a strike rate of 136.26 in 2021 and aggregated 368 runs this year at a strike rate of 126.46. Add Gaikwad’s T20I scores till Cuttack - 21, 14, 4, 23 and 1 - and you are left in two minds about him.
India are likely to open with Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul in the T20 World Cup in Australia with Ishan Kishan the next choice. So, what’s the need of Gaikwad, especially when he isn't able to translate his IPL form into big scores for India, you might have asked. With a maiden international fifty shaped by uninhibited power play batting, the 25-year-old Maharashtra player finally provided an answer. When the pitch is true, and the ball comes on to the bat nicely, Gaikwad can give the robust start India want from now on. There is certain uncertainty in the equation if senior batters don’t buy into the T20 bent of top-order aggression in a World Cup year. Gaikwad finally showed he is up for it, especially when the pitch - like the ones expected in Australia in October-November - has some bounce. A 35-ball 57 with a strike rate of 162.85 would also have provided assurance in the dugout.
“It is part and parcel of T20 cricket. You are going to have off days and really bad days. It is a matter of staying consistent mentally and trusting your process,” Gaikwad said about his string of earlier unimpressive scores. “Coming into this series, I felt the first two wickets were slightly on the tacky side. So, coming here, good wicket, I played my game.”
With India fighting to keep the series alive, it would not have been easy not to walk the talk and go after the bowlers even at the cost of wickets. In Visakhapatnam on Tuesday, Gaikwad took ownership of the strategy by laying into fast bowler Anrich Nortje, scoring five fours in the fifth over. “I wasn’t thinking that I’ve already got two-three boundaries in the over,” Gaikwad told teammate Yuzvendra Chahal in an interview on bcci.tv later. “It was just that if it was in my zone, I would go for the boundary. I was looking to continue with an aggressive mindset.”
Gaikwad can take time to warm up, and India’s T20 World Cup planners don’t need another slow batter in the power play. But he can also fly off the blocks when needed, the 2021 IPL being a prime example of that mindset for eventual champions Chennai Super Kings. Still, there are days when nothing goes one’s way and Gaikwad has faced too much of that in his brief international career.
"I had a really good last year, so people come with a lot of expectations when you have such a great year, in IPL and in domestic cricket," he said. "In this IPL, the wickets were slightly bowler-friendly, there were not many flat wickets, there were two-paced wickets, the ball was turning, and there was some swing. So, in the IPL in three-four games I got out to good balls. And some dismissals (where) a good shot went to the fielder’s hands."
When a stroke player keeps getting out like this, his narrative arc can dip quickly. Thankfully for Gaikwad though, he has been backed to the hilt by the management. It persisted with him three matches in a row despite scores of 23 and 1 in Delhi and Cuttack. He repaid that faith in Visakhapatnam when India needed a quick yet solid start with Ishan Kishan (54 off 35 balls). “It was about keeping a positive mindset. It was slightly sticky for the first couple of overs, so we were thinking that we should not lose a wicket, and then we should try to maximise the power play from the fourth over onwards. Luckily, it worked out for me as well as Ishan.”
