CSK misses opening gear, seeks batting spark  

CHENNAI : When Chennai Super Kings won the 2021 Indian Premier League, at the centre of it all were two individuals — Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad — who scored a combined tally of 1,268 runs at the top of the batting order. While the franchise retained the latter as he is one of the promising young batters in the country, they could not get hold of Du Plessis in the auction, who was picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore. That said, whether it would have made a difference, one can’t say, as both of them have had just one good game for their respective franchises.

However, CSK is the club that’s got affected the most as Gaikwad has returned with just 138 runs while averaging 17.25 in eight games so far. And it shows in the results as they have lost six of those games and are almost on the verge of an early exit. A repeat of 2020. The Maharashtra batsman has had just one good outing (73) where he has scored more than half of his total tally. Without his contribution, CSK, which had already lost their strike bowler in Deepak Chahar to injury, has struggled massively. The fact that Gaikwad hasn’t had any support from the other end hasn’t helped either.

While it seemed like they were getting back on track after the win against Mumbai, all was not well against Punjab on Monday. Although Gaikwad made a 27-ball 30, wickets kept falling at the other end. Ambati Rayudu played a blinder and almost got them over the line, in the end, the cracks in the batting line-up just showed. “I think not getting a good start in the first six, we’re not putting runs on the board. So we need to improve on that and come back strong,” skipper Jadeja said after the latest setback.

When Chennai were in a similar position in 2020, former captain MS Dhoni said that they didn’t see the spark in the youngsters to push them up and give them chances, referring to Gaikwad and N Jagadeesan, who’s currently warming the bench. Ironically, it was Gaikwad who turned things around the next year — to the extent where they retained him — and helped them win their fourth title. Mathematically, CSK isn’t totally out yet. They still have a chance to steer the ship. But a lot relies on whether Gaikwad can find that spark again.