IPL 2021: Ruturaj Gaikwad earned a bit of time with the way he played last season – Stephen Fleming

Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming has put his weight behind under-fire opener Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has thus far failed to get going in the first three matches of the IPL.

The youngster has turned with scores of 5, 5, 10 against Delhi Capitals, Punjab Kings, and Rajasthan Royals respectively and thus he hasn’t been able to give a good start to his team.

However, Gaikwad had grabbed his opportunity with both hands in the previous season as he had scored 204 runs in six matches at an impressive average of 51 and a strike rate of 120.71. However, Gaikwad’s performance had come a little too late for CSK in IPL 2020 as they were already knocked out of the tournament.

Fleming feels Gaikwad has earned a bit of time for himself with the way he had played in the last season and that is why the team is backing him to deliver the goods in the ongoing edition.

With an experienced and an in-form Robin Uthappa waiting in the wings, Gaikwad will need to come up with his best in the forthcoming matches.

“Ya, Robin Uthappa is waiting. But Ruturaj Gaikwad earned a bit of time with the way he played last season. You know our philosophy. We give players a good amount of chances in what they are trying to do. We will continue to back him. Then see and make a decision soon. At the moment, we are backing a good young player,” said Stephen Fleming at the post-match presentation after CSK’s 45-run win over Rajasthan Royals at Mumbai on Monday.

On the other hand, Faf du Plessis had done a fine job in the previous season for CSK and had ended as the leading run-getter for the franchise. However, the Proteas star hasn’t been able to deliver in the ongoing season so far as he has scored his runs at 6.5 runs/over in the powerplay overs whereas Gaikwad has scored at 3.4 runs/over in the ongoing season.

Gaikwad recent form hasn’t been good as he could only muster 94 runs in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy whereas he scored 182 runs in the Vijay Hazare trophy. Thus, the right-hander from Maharashtra will need to pick up his performances.

CSK will play their next match against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on 21st April.