‘Days of diesel engines are over…’ – Former India opener’s bold statement on Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of Indian T20 League 2023

The Chennai franchise will be locking horns against the defending champions Gujarat on Friday, March 31 at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium. Chennai did not have a memorable season last year as they finished ninth in the ten-team event and will try to make a strong comeback in the 16th edition of the Indian T20 League. The franchise has bought star England all-rounder Ben Stokes at a whopping price of INR 16.25 crore in the mini-auctions in order to strengthen their squad.

Former Indian opener, Aakash Chopra opined that Stokes’s batting position is not yet confirmed during a video on his official YouTube channel. He asserted that Stokes likes to build the innings instead of going all-out in the starting. He also stated that the Chennai-based franchise has a similar player like him, who is their opener, Ruturaj Gaikwad.

He starts slowly and picks pace as he builds the innings: Aakash Chopra 

“As we saw in the World Cup as well, he likes to take his time in the middle. He plays better at no.3 as well, and in the Indian T20 League, his only century came when he batted up in the order. So, it’s hard to understand what’s happening there. Robin (Uthappa) isn’t there anymore, so were they searching for his replacement?” Chopra was quoted as saying on his YouTube channel.

The Three Lions Test skipper scored his only Indian T League centry back in 2017 while batting  at number five for now-defunct Pune franchise against the now-defunct Gujarat franchise. Speaking further about Gaikwad, the former India opener said that the youngster may need to play with more aggressiveness and made an amusing comparison.

“It is possible that Ruturaj Gaikwad hits the ground up and running. Right now, he starts slowly and picks pace as he builds the innings. But the days of diesel engine are over, we have EVs now. Ruturaj has to become an electric vehicle,” the former Kolkata franchise opener added.

Gaikwad had a fantastic season in 2021, scoring 635 runs in 16 games. But, the next year, the opener had a fairly mixed performance. The opener scored 368 runs with a strike rate of 126.46 in 14 games.