Ruturaj Gaikwad took up the leadership role of Chennai Super Kings ahead of the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League, succeeding the five-time title-winner, MS Dhoni. It was certainly a special feat for Gaikwad, who was bestowed the responsibility of continuing the legacy of a successful team like CSK. The pressure of captaincy looks to have hardly impacted his batting. The youngster is currently second on the Orange Cap list, having aggregated 541 runs at an average of over 50.
As far as his leadership skills are concerned, Ruturaj Gaikwad has demonstrated his decision-making prowess on several occasions. He has also been lucky to have Dhoni behind the stumps and seems to be learning a lot from the World Cup-winning captain. However, there is one aspect where Gaikwad has lagged as a skipper. In his 12 appearances as the CSK frontman this season, the 27-year-old has won the toss only twice.
Though it was just a matter of luck, Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming spoke about the topic ahead of his team’s last game against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad. Fleming was asked if he had given any special advice to Ruturaj Gaikwad about how to win the toss. The question left the former New Zealand international in splits.
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Fleming may be well aware of the fact that winning a toss is not something that a captain can learn. He, however, revealed that in terms of Ruturaj Gaikwad, a lot of discussions had taken place inside the CSK dressing room. According to Fleming, Gaikwad’s wife Utkarsha Pawar, who is also a cricketer, has been quite concerned about the matter.
“There is a lot of talk about it. We’re actually looking for someone to go out with him (Ruturaj Gaikwad). We’re pretty close to that point and some of them have been pretty crucial. But yeah, there has been a lot of talk about it. Even his wife (Utkarsha) had something to say about it,” Stephen Fleming was heard saying in a video shared by the Chennai-based franchise on Instagram. The caption of the post read, “Special coaching for the 7 pm exam.”
Ruturaj Gaikwad managed to win the toss against Gujarat Titans. Considering the batting-friendly nature of the Ahmedabad surface, the CSK captain elected to bowl first. The decision, however, backfired, with GT producing a mammoth 231 runs, thanks to centuries by Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan. An early collapse in the top order led CSK to fall 35 runs short of the target, losing eight wickets in 20 overs.
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