Ruturaj Gaikwad failed to counter a high-class inswinging ball from T Natarajan in the CSK vs SRH IPL 2022 game.
Last edition’s ‘Orange Cap’ holder, Ruturaj Gaikwad has had a horror start to his IPL 2022 for Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Retained for his prolific run and great contribution in CSK’s title win in UAE, the batter has failed in his first four innings of the tournament this year.
Gaikwad also had a string of failures in his first three innings of IPL 2020 and IPL 2021, before making amends for the rest of the season. Thus, there was a sense of expectation around him heading into CSK’s fourth game of IPL 2022 on Saturday (April 9).
But the hopes of CSK’s passionate fans were dashed after the right-hander fell for another low score in the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Mumbai.
Facing SRH’s left-arm pacer T Natarajan, Ruturaj Gaikwad got out playing insipidly around an inswinging delivery and saw the ball thump onto his stumps.
Ruturaj Gaikwad undone by a class inswinger from T Natarajan
Till that point, Ruturaj Gaikwad had batted reasonably well for his 12-ball 16 inside the powerplay. But on the 13th, the batter was simply outclassed by a top-quality inswinger from Natarajan.
The dismissal came to light at the start of the sixth over in CSK’s innings. Sticking to strengths, Natarajan aimed for another full-pitched delivery, which tailed in late into the right-hander and made him look clueless in the moment.
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In an obvious error, Gaikwad failed to get his back and across trigger movement going to try and cover for the movement and paid the ultimate prize for playing a swinging ball with just the flourish of his hands.
— Peep (@Peep00470121) April 9, 2022
The dismissal would’ve pleased Natarajan a lot, as the pacer continues to showcase fine rhythm and greater variability plus execution around his lengths.
But for Ruturaj Gaikwad, it was a moment of great agony, for he failed to reverse a worrying trend of low scores off his bat at the start of the competition. The Maharashtra and India batter has compiled just 18 runs from his first four innings of IPL 2022.
