Chennai Super Kings’ opening batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad has reflected back on the highs and lows during 2020 IPL which took place in the UAE. As we’ll are aware the 2020 edition was played amidst the COVID’19 pandemic, which is why due to safety precautions the entire season was shifted out of India into the middle east spread across eight bio bubbles.
The players went through a series of testing and strict bio bubble protocols were put into place for the mega event. Despite the players being a part of the bio bubble in their respective hotels, there was an instance when as many as 12 members from the CSK camp were deemed to be COVID-19 positive among which was also Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Gaikwad was diagnosed with COVID-19 and had to remain in quarantine along with Deepak Chahar before starting training in the UAE. The journey was tough and the start was difficult for the 22-year-old from Maharashtra. With the likes of Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh backing out of the tournament, it was said that Ruturaj Gaikwad would be the likely replacement in the playing XI.
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CSK has one of the best team atmospheres – Ruturaj Gaikwad
As soon as Gaikwad was out of quarantine, he was soon included in the playing XI but failed to get going initially. Ruturaj Gaikwad was out for paltry scores to begin the campaign but came back stronger in the second half. He scored three consecutive half-centuries in the last three games of IPL 2020 for CSK as they ended the tournament on a high. Those wins also helped CSK avoid a last spot finish in the points table as they finished just above the Rajasthan Royals.
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Recently while speaking to Sportstar, Ruturaj Gaikwad revealed how the atmosphere in the CSK dressing is one of the best which keeps everyone calm eventually helping them focus more on the process.
“A lot matters on team atmosphere and how all the members in the team react to your failures…And I think CSK is one of the best in that and having everyone calm and cool minded around helped me focus more on my process..!” Gaikwad wrote in response to a query during a Q&A session on Instagram.
He further spoke about how MS Dhoni backed the little lad from Pune and asked him to play freely in the last three games of the seasons without thinking much of the performance. Dhoni wanted Gaikwad to enjoy the last three games and also assured that he’ll be featuring in all three remaining matches.
“Dhoni walked up to me and asked me if I was under pressure. He said, ‘We don’t want to pressurise you, but we have expectations from you. All I want to tell you is you are going to play the next three games without any doubt, whether you score a run or not. Try and enjoy these games and not think about performance,” Ruturaj Gaikwad had told Sportstar in an interview.
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