Ruturaj Gaikwad’s demeanour is similar to MS Dhoni: Robin Uthappa

Chennai Super Kings’ batter Robin Uthappa has lavished praises on Ruturaj Gaikwad for the latter’s great batsmanship in the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League. The right-handed Gaikwad started his campaign with a few indifferent knocks, but has made amends and is currently fifth in the list of leading run-scorers in IPL 2021. In 10 games, he has notched 362 runs with three fifties.

Uthappa, who’s yet to play for the Super Kings after moving from the Rajasthan Royals, was impressed with Gaikwad to the extent that he drew his parallels with MS Dhoni. Uthappa said that Gaikwad’s character is pretty similar to Dhoni, who’s known for keeping a calm head even under pressure.

On Tuesday, the Super Kings uploaded a video, writing, “Calm, composed than before ? Robbing ft. Rutu! #WhistlePodu #YellowLove @Ruutu1331 @robbieuthappa”. In the video, Uthappa lauded Gaikwad for performing to expectations for the Yellow Army.

Calm, composed.. 👂 that before? 😉

Robbing 💛 ft. Rutu! #WhistlePodu #Yellove 🦁 @Ruutu1331 @robbieuthappa pic.twitter.com/YTxkrPvlPK

— Chennai Super Kings – Mask P😷du Whistle P🥳du! (@ChennaiIPL) September 28, 2021

He’s a great kid, says Robin Uthappa

“I think the character showed from Rutu (Ruturaj Gaikwad), I think is unbelievable. I think he is an incredible talent that we (CSK) are lucky enough to have and his demeanour is much like Mahi (Dhoni) – calm, composed, chilled out, and a really nice human being. I really like him, he’s a great kid,” Uthappa was quoted as saying.

In CSK’s previous game against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Gaikwad played a key role in CSK chasing down 172. The youngster scored 40 runs off 28 balls with the help of two fours and three sixes.

It was his 74-run partnership for the opening wicket with Faf du Plessis that set up CSK’s run-chase. Andre Russell eventually got rid of him in the ninth over. In the powerplay, the Super Kings scored 52 runs and put the pressure on KKR.

Uthappa talked about the importance of not losing wickets in the powerplay in order to increase chances of winning. “When you look at cricket statistics… the stats say that if a team loses more than 2 or 3 wickets in the powerplay then the chances of winning the game is only 10 percent,” he added.

The Super Kings are next scheduled to play Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday, September 30 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.