The new skipper of the Chennai Super Kings Ruturaj Gaikwad has become the first captain from the franchise to score a century in the Indian Premier League. The right-handed opening batter achieved the massive milestone during CSK's clash against Lucknow Super Giants at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
Gaikwad batted with great composure to stitch his innings against the Super Giants. While most of the other batters seemed to struggle, Gaikwad played a captain's knock. He got to his hundred in 56 balls with a four over covers in the 18th over. He carried his team right from the start even though the other batters struggled from the other end. Gaikwad ended the innings unbeaten at 108 from 60 balls. His stroke-filled knock was laced with 12 fours and three sixes.
Meanwhile, before Gaikwad, Dhoni had the biggest score as CSK skipper. Dhoni's made 84* in 2019 against the then Royal Challengers Banglore. Dhoni has mostly played in the middle and lower middle-order.
Highest run scores as CSK captain in IPL:
1 - Ruturaj Gaikwad: 108* from 60 balls vs LSG
2 - MS Dhoni: 84* from 48 balls vs RCB
3 - MS Dhoni: 79* from 44 balls vs Kings XI Punjab
4 - MS Dhoni: 75* from 46 balls vs Rajasthan Royals
5 - MS Dhoni: 70* from 40 balls vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Gaikwad and Shivam Dube partnered for a stand of 104 from 39 balls as they set the Super Kings' big target. Dube made 66 from 27 balls with seven sixes and three fours. Dhoni came out to bat at No.6 and hit a four in the only ball he faced on the day. Notably, Ajinkya Rahane was dismissed in the first over for one off three balls. Ravindra Jadeja made 16 from 19 balls, while Daryl Mitchell scored 11 from 10 deliveries.
CSK's Playing XI:
Ajinkya Rahane, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Daryl Mitchell, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Mustafizur Rahman, Matheesha Pathirana
LSG's Playing XI:
Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul (c & wk), Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Matt Henry, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Yash Thakur
