Has Ruturaj Gaikwad been burdened by being captain? On Monday, April 8, at Chepauk, the Chennai Super Kings captain led his team home with an undefeated 67 and his first half-century of the year, therefore the response was an emphatic no.
This season has started differently from the last, with his first three scores being 92, 57, and 40*. Ruturaj, however, believed that the discussion around his lack of runs this year is far more complex and that he has never been “worried” about his form.
“There are certain things where the outside people don’t really get to know,” Gaikwad stated. “The three or four games we started last year were in Ahmedabad, Chennai, Mumbai, and Chennai once more. Those were all flat-wicket games. Thus, in my opinion, the pitch is quite important.
“In my first IPL 2024 match, I felt like I got off to a strong start and a good ball. Same for the second game. I believe I got off to a good start; you tend to make a mistake there though, so I had to pick up some speed. And after the second ball did not really do anything, I felt like I was in excellent shape for the third game.
“There are periods of time when you get good balls. There are moments when you are extremely unlucky. There are moments when nothing seems to be falling into place. A beautiful shot that finds its way into the fielder’s hands. Thus, there’s really no need for you to consider that. I was never particularly concerned since I always thought I was in good form, starting extremely well, and had a fantastic head space.”
Ruturaj also mentioned that he was not unfamiliar with batting as the captain. Whether he is captain or not, “nothing really changes” in his attitude; he has been in such situations before.
“And batting while captaining is an entirely other strategy. We were chasing 140 when I played my first game for CSK, or the first fifty runs I scored there, and I always wanted to stay to the very end to make sure I finished the innings. It was pretty much the same situation. Whether I am captain or not, nothing much actually changes.”
After a run of defeats away from home, Ruturaj opened out about captaincy, saying he wouldn’t “change a single bit” of the way the team has been led since its founding.
“I don’t want to be a specific kind of character,” he stated. “I just like to go with the flow and essentially maintain the CSK culture.” That’s how I feel. I want to keep what we have been doing and the success we have had just as it is. That’s what has been happening since I joined CSK, so I just want to go there, make my own decisions, and give as much freedom as I can. Nothing much is changing, and I’m having fun.”
Much has been said about how Ruturaj found out he would be captaining CSK, but he went into further detail, sharing, among other things, a chat he had with Dhoni during a practise session.
“To be honest, I don’t feel like we had very in-depth talks [about Dhoni’s captaincy].” It was quite chilly. I would say just one chat. He approached me as we were practicing and told me everything. Naturally, everyone else would consider them to be large shoes to fill, but I feel like I would always be true to myself and I would like to carry on the tradition that has been going strong.
“I recall him telling me in 2022 that, while it’s unlikely that you’ll lead after that year, you should be prepared for it. Obviously, I was always prepared for it after that. I wasn’t surprised, shocked, or in the dark about it. I am aware of how to manage the game. I was bowling on the state team, so I know how the game goes, what changes, and when to do things. Even after every game last year, Fleming and I would talk about captaincy, how I was feeling, what had changed, how the bowling had changed, what I thought we should have done, and other things. We had one-on-one talks during every game, which was incredibly beneficial.
