‘Rutu ka Raaaaaj’ – Fans heap praise on Ruturaj Gaikwad for his splendid knock in Indian T20 League opener against Gujarat

The 16th edition of the Indian T20 League has started with a bang for the Chennai batter Ruturaj Gaikwad, who played a splendid knock in the opening match against the Gujarat franchise. Hardik Pandya, the skipper of Gujarat won the toss and asked the Chennai franchise to bat first at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Batting first, Chennai didn’t make a great start as Mohammed Shami dismissed Devon Conway in the third over of the innings when the score was 14 runs. After that, Ruturaj Gaikwad took the charge and scored the first half-century of the season. Gaikwad took the innings forward while wickets kept falling on the other end. Rashid Khan sent Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes back to the pavilion, while Joshua Little got the wicket of Ambati Rayadu.

Gaikwad smashed the first half-century of the season

After that, Gujarat finally got the wicket of Gaikwad, who got out after smashing 92 runs off 50 balls. The 26-year-old smashed four fours and nine sixes during his innings. Chennai could not add many runs to their total after Gaikwad’s wicket. Skipper MS Dhoni hit a couple of boundaries in the last over as Chennai finished their innings on 178 for the loss of 7 wickets.

For Gujarat, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, and Rashid Khan scalped 2 wickets each. While Joshua Little put one in his bag. Now, Gujarat require 179 runs to win the first game of the Indian T20 League 2023.

Before the match started fans were treated to power-packed performances from the celebrities like Rashmika Mandanna, Tamanna Bhatia, and Arijit Singh who made their presence in the opening ceremony of the tournament.

Here’s how fans reacted to Gaikwad’s knock: