IPL orange cap winner Ruturaj Gaikwad scores back to back fifties in Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy

IPL orange cap winner Ruturaj Gaikwad has continued his impressive form with the bat in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as well and has scored two back to back half centuries for his home state Maharashtra to start the tournament off.

Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was also named the captain of Maharashtra after his brilliant show with the bat for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2021, led his team from the front in both the games against Tamil Nadu and Punjab and played two fluent innings of 51 and 80 respectively.

Although Ruturaj’s effort against Tamil Nadu couldn’t quite take Maharshtra over the line in the first game, he ensured he played right till the end against Punjab and got the job done chasing a decent sized total on a tricky pitch.

Ruturaj was the only batsman who batted fluently in Punjab Vs Maharashtra game

Ruturaj was the only batsman who scored a half century out of both sides in Punjab Vs Maharashtra game as it was not the easiest pitch to bat on because of the early morning moisture. The Maharashtra skipper took a bit of time at the start of the innings and then went hammer and tongs against the spinners in the middle overs.

As he showed in the IPL as well, Ruturaj Gaikwad is not the kind of batsman who uses too much power in his batting, but his range and footwork make him an extremely tough batsman to bowl to.

With the senior Indian players expected to be rested for the T20 series against New Zealand right after the T20 World Cup, Ruturaj might be one of the youngsters who get an opportunity.

Ruturaj has already played for India in a couple of T20 games on the Sri Lanka tour earlier this year, but those games were played on spin friendly decks and the matches were low scoring.

If Ruturaj gets an opportunity against New Zealand, he would want to showcase his full potential as a batsman and earn himself further opportunities even when the seniors return.