Ravi Shastri makes bold statement on Ruturaj Gaikwad amid batter's successful IPL 2023 outing

Ruturaj Gaikwad (Image Source: Twitter)

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter, is having a great outing with the bat in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.  He has scored 408 runs scored in 11 games and has formed a wonderful partnership with his opening partner Devon Conway. Gaikwad is also a member of India's travelling group for the Test Championship final against Australia due to his constant form for the team and his outstanding results for Maharashtra in domestic cricket. One of the squad's backup players is the youthful opener.

In 2021, Gaikwad had a breakout season and won the Orange Cap award. This year, though, Gaikwad has excelled in terms of his strike rate, striking at 147.29 (his highest strike rate for any IPL season thus far). Gaikwad joining the Indian playing XI soon shouldn't come as a surprise, according to former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri.

Ravi Shastri’s statement regarding Ruturaj Gaikwad

Ravi Shastri spoke to Espncricinfo about the kind of potential Ruturaj Gaikwad has and how he will represent India in the future. He said, “He will get confidence. He's a future India player, without a doubt. He has time, talent, he's a great fielder too. If you see his shot selection and range of shots, you should be surprised if he doesn't play for India soon enough.”

The former Indian Team head coach then spoke about the problems young talents face and gives examples of some veterans of the game. He said, “See, the problems begin when you start running behind a century or a half-century. You only think about 50s or 100s. You also have to see how many matches has he won. I say you score 40 in 20 deliveries, that is more important than a 60-70. Your role at the top is the most important, because you need to give a strong start. Wriddhiman Saha, for example, scores 30-40 but he scores at a fast rate. And in his last match, he scored a brilliant 80. T20 cricket is a game of balls. We think opposite. Your 50s and 100s don't matter,”