Sunil Gavaskar heaped praise on Ruturaj Gaikwad for performing brilliantly on his captaincy debut for the Chennai Super League (IPL) 2024 opener on Friday, March 22 against the Faf du Plessis-led oyal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
Replacing MS Dhoni in front of a packed house at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, Gaikwad did not lose his calm as the Super Kings won by 6 wickets.
Gaikwad lauded the youngster for brilliantly using Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who picked up 4 wickets and won the Player of the Match award. The left-armer got the wickets of Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Rajat Patidar.
“Absolutely! Your debut as a captain becomes very important. You want to begin your captaincy career well with a win and that’s exactly what happened,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports Show Cricket Live.
“What was impressive was his bowling changes. Because when you saw the way he kept on changing Mustafizur; the way he used Mustafizur was absolutely terrific. He kept swapping Deepak Chahar, keeping faith in Tushar Deshpande for that final over.”
‘MS Dhoni will guide him’
Gavaskar praised Gaikwad for showing enough faith in Tushar Deshpande, who did not have the best of days after he leaked 47 runs in 4 overs. The veteran also said that MS Dhoni’s guidance will do wonders for Gaikwad.
“I think seeing that Tushar Deshpande had been taken for 25, there was an opportunity to use another bowler, but he still stuck to Tushar Deshpande, and Deshpande responded with a brilliant final over. So, yes, I think the captaincy was most impressive,” Gavaskar said.
“And we see over here, he has, of course, MS Dhoni around him, to guide him, tell him and give him the encouragement. Sometimes, that little nod from somebody as experienced and as accomplished as MSD, makes a big difference,” he added.
Although Gaikwad got out after scoring 15 runs, he showed his intent right from the word go by hitting Mohammed Siraj for a four on the leg side.
The Super Kings will be looking to carry their momentum when they lock horns with Shubman Gill’s Gujarat Titans on March 26.