CHENNAI: Ruturaj Gaikwad knew that he was out from the moment he slog swept Anukul Roy. It was only the second ball of the third over during the IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday. And the CSK skipper threw his back in disappointment moments after, with Rovman Powell completing the catch in the deep.
Gaikwad knew what the dismissal meant. The Chennai captain’s scores so far read — 6, 28, 7, 15 and 7. Sixty-three runs in five games. An average of 12.6 and a strike rate of 105. That was not how Gaikwad would have expected this season to go so far. Not in his third year as Chennai captain, where both he and the franchise are looking for a desperate turnaround.
Truth be told, Gaikwad not scoring runs is a bit of an anomaly. For all the questions and criticisms about his captaincy, tactics or intent on the field as bowling captain, the one thing everyone knows is that Gaikwad is a consistent run accumulator. He has made a reputation for himself right from the breakout season in 2021, where he helped the Super Kings lift their fourth title.
Gaikwad followed up with a 368-run season in 2022, 590 runs in 2023 and 583 in 2024 (his first year as captain). Last season, he only played five games — the same as he has so far — before getting ruled out due to injury. He may not be the Priyansh Aryas and Vaibhav Sooryavanshis of the world, but Gaikwad is one of the consistent batters of this generation, like Shubman Gill and B Sai Sudharsan.
So coming into this season, pressure was on Gaikwad to not just deliver as a batter but also step up his game and show the world — and the CSK fans to an extent that he is the right man to lead from the front for the five-time champions, especially with Sanju Samson in the team now. Safe to say, the Maharashtra batter has fallen short drastically so far. And not just by his standards but also in comparison with his contemporaries.
Until the first innings of the CSK versus KKR tie, only Riyan Parag and Axar Patel had fewer runs than Gaikwad (among designated full-time skippers). Parag is a middle-order batter whose team and top-order are on an overdrive, while Axar is not a specialist batter. And Gaikwad stands at eighth place on the list, where the top four are Ishan Kishan (201 runs), Rajat Patidar (195), Shubman Gill (165) and Shreyas Iyer (137). With Gill, Ajinkya Rahane and Gaikwad being the only specialist batters who double up as openers, the former two have a much better start to the season so far. Rahane, in fact, didn't open the innings on Tuesday.
What would be even more concerning for both CSK and Gaikwad is that he has not been able to replicate the kind of authority Kishan or Patidar has shown with the bat so far. Though Patidar is in his early 30s, there seems to be a visible improvement in his power-hitting, especially against pace. He has upskilled himself in a way that even Virat Kohli joked about Patidar showing 'main character energy' for his longer hair in one of the videos shared by the franchise. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain has lived up to that with the bat as well in a team that has a star like Kohli.
Gaikwad, too, seemed to have grown out his hair a bit. But in terms of his impact on the field — there is no doubt about his talent or ability to deliver — the CSK captain has not been able to produce the kind of knocks he is known for. Back in 2024, he once spoke about consciously showing more intent up front, even at the cost of taking more risks. This year, that, too, has been absent despite pushing himself back to the top at the cost of Ayush Mhatre, who continues to deliver.
At what point does his form become a matter of question for CSK? Should he go back to No 3, allowing Mhatre and Samson to give quick starts at the top? How many poor scores before such a move would be considered seriously? These are some of the questions only CSK captain Gaikwad himself and head coach Stephen Fleming can answer. A lot of it could depend on the result of the next couple of games as well.