IPL 2023: Ruturaj Gaikwad says he is LUCKY to play with MS Dhoni, says THIS about Chennai Super Kings skipper

India opener Ruturaj Gaikwad stated that the Indian Premier League (IPL) is not the only place to burst onto the stage and youngsters should look to deliver solid performances in the domestic circuit to knock on the national team’s door. The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opener was in Chennai at an event and shared his thoughts on youngsters prioritizing IPL over domestic cricket to come into the limelight.

“I think for the younger generation IPL is not the only platform for recognition or bursting into the Indian team. Dominating domestic cricket is the priority,” said the CSK opener.

Gaikwad talked about his recent exploits in the Vijay Hazare Trophy where he smashed 43 runs in an over and about his team Maharashtra faltering to cross the final hurdle, losing out on the title by a small margin. “I feel good to have something which very few people have achieved. At the same time, we had the time to win the trophy, but we missed out by a very small margin. I have mixed feelings as I am disappointed with the way the team has lost in the finals,” Gaikwad said.

Ruturaj Gaikwad has 15 hundreds & 16 fifties from just 71 innings in List A format.pic.twitter.com/HzCLC8tsl7

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 2, 2022

He also talked about his plan of playing in the upcoming tournaments and his feeling about returning to Chennai after some time. “I haven’t thought much about IPL now because there’s still time in it. It has long days to come. There is Ranji Trophy to play before that. Every time I come to Chennai it feels very nice to me,” Gaikwad added.

He revealed what it’s like to play along with the most successful captain of India, MS Dhoni and to share the dressing room with him. “I feel very lucky to play with MS Dhoni. Lucky to share the dressing room with him. There is advice coming through from him every time, it’s the right kind of advice I feel because his guidance helped me a lot,” the Maharashtra captain said.

Talking about his inspiration in cricket he said, “It keeps on changing. When I started playing cricket my favourite player was Sachin Tendulkar and after that Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni but these three are constant.”

Ruturaj Gaikwad broke a List A cricket record by hitting seven straight sixes in a Vijay Hazare Trophy quarter-final match. Uttar Pradesh spinner Shiva Singh was on the receiving end of Gaikwad’s mayhem, which included seven sixes in a row – 6 6 6 6 6nb 6 6. With that, Gaikwad became the first batter in white-ball cricket history to hit seven straight sixes in an over.

The Maharashtra opener finished unbeaten on 220 from 159 balls. His excellent innings, which included ten fours and sixteen sixes, enabled his team to reach a competitive total of 330/5 in 50 overs. Ruturaj Gaikwad will be expected to be CSK's key performers in the upcoming IPL 2023 as well.

(with ANI inputs)