Ruturaj Gaikwad ties up with Baseline Ventures

The Pune-born Gaikwad made his first-class debut against Jharkhand in 2016. Since then, the top-order batsman has scored six centuries and four half centuries in his first-class career.

Promising top-order batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad has signed a multi-year deal with sports marketing and talent management firm, Baseline Ventures, which will look after the cricketer’s commercial interests.

Ruturaj Gaikwad of Chennai Super Kings plays a shot during Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.(PTI)

The Pune-born Gaikwad made his first-class debut against Jharkhand in 2016. Since then, the top-order batsman has scored six centuries and four half centuries in his first-class career. The 23-year-old, who was bought by Chennai Super Kings for ₹20 lakh in the IPL 2019 auction, was one of the shining lights for the franchise this season with three consecutive half-centuries in the team’s last three matches of the league. The youngster, who scored 204 runs in six matches at a healthy average of 51.00 this season, became the first uncapped Indian to score three consecutive fifties in the IPL.

“Baseline represents some of the biggest athletes from our country and therefore I am very excited to be represented by them. They are one of the best sports marketing companies in India and have helped many young talents move forward in the right direction and build their careers,” Gaikwad said in a statement.

Baseline represents top athletes like PV Sindhu, Smriti Mandhana, Nikhat Zareen, Joshna Chinappa, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepika Kumari, Shafali Verma & Radha Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prithvi Shaw, Pankaj Advani, Saurav Ghosal, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Sardar Singh, Saurabh Chaudhry, Sanju Samson and Amit Panghal among others.