Ruturaj Gaikwad of CSK slams maiden T20 hundred; from struggler to Orange Cap holder in IPL 2021

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Dubai, October 2; Ruturaj Gaikwad of Chennai Super Kings had exactly the last two balls in the 20th over to complete his maiden T20 hundred. The bowler was Mustafizur Rahman of Rajasthan Royals, a veteran who knows how to deliver incredible final overs.

The left-arm pacer deceived CSK opener Gaikwad with a slower bouncer in the fifth ball of the 20th over that sailed over the batsman's shoulder. The on-field umpires deemed it a legal ball, and that left Gaikwad, then on 95, with just one ball to get five runs to complete his century.

Gaikwad needed a six and he delivered just that, smashing a length ball on the off-stump over the mid-wicket fence for a maximum and the young man let out a roar of delight and fell into the arms of Ravindra Jadeja, his batting partner.

"I think the wicket was holding a bit initially, the fast bowlers were bowling really well. The plan was if I could bat till 13-14 overs, I could capitalise later. I'm looking to just time the ball and hold my shape, I wasn't looking to hit big. We were looking for 160, then I thought 170, then why not 180, and finally we got 190.

''I timed the ball really well, the short boundary on the leg side meant I knew it was six off the last ball,'' said Gaikwad in the post-innings presentation at Star Sports.

But even otherwise the innings was quite marvellous. Gaikwad started the innings at a low tempo, scoring 30 runs off the first 30 balls. But the next 30 balls produced 70 runs in an exhilarating display of batsmanship by Gaikwad as he purposefully targeted the smaller side of the ground.

The innings also helped the Super Kings post a healthy 189, their highest total of the season and it was a brilliant effort considering they were just 83 for 2 after 12 overs. However, the next 8 overs saw 106 runs flowing in. Jadeja also contributed immensely to that total with a brisk 32 off 15 balls.

It also marked an astonishing turnaround in Gaikwad's fortunes. He started off the IPL 2021 scoring 5, 5 and 10 but the CSK coach Stephen Fleming and captain MS Dhoni backed him to the hilt and he repaid that faith with scores of 64, 33, 75, 4, 88, 38, 40, 45 and 101.

With this hundred the Pune born opener also moved to the top of the run-maker's list to capture the Orange Cap from Shikhar Dhawan.

''It's okay to play an innings in a high-scoring game and dominate. But when you're the one to get a score to give your team a chance, then that's even more special," Fleming had said of Gaikwad.

"So, the way he went about his work, it had really absorbing pressure and then the ability to accelerate as the innings went on, it really was down to his hand, that we were able to create any pressure whatsoever. So, it was a remarkable innings from him,'' he added.

This day too was quite remarkable.