Kuldeep has come a long way in his search for Zen
Ahundred at any level is a special occasion for a batter. And if you are the captain of Chennai Super Kings, it can’t get better than scoring one in front of your adoring fans at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium. On Tuesday, Ruturaj Gaikwad just did that as he
When a sportsperson is condent about his craft on the eld or inside the arena, it makes him relaxed o it. The converse may not always be true. With Kuldeep Yadav, though, the converse does appear true.
As a result, after having a mixed bag of 4-0-55-4 against Sunrisers Hyderabad over the weekend, Kuldeep is neither dejected by the seven sixes that were hit o him nor is he over the moon with four key wickets he picked for Delhi Capitals.
The wristspinner, who is nearing 30, admitted that the prolonged knee injury break in 2021 made slammed an unbeaten 108 (60b, 12x4, 3x6) and helped CSK score 210 for four against Lucknow Super Giants.
The Super Kings skipper got good support from Shivam Dube, who unleashed a barrage of sixes in his knock of 66 o just 27 balls (3x4, 7x6).
The duo added 104 runs for the fourth wicket in just 47 balls as CSK rattled up 125 in the last 10 overs.
Ruturaj, who returned to opening the innings after him realise how to back his strengths and respect the opponents.
More importantly, he realised the worth of people.
“When you are not doing well, that’s when you need a core group of people around you who you can fall back on. I had my coach (Kapil Pandey) and my family doing the same for me,” a relaxed Kuldeep says.
“The discussions with the family opened me up about approach towards life. And my coach made me realise what I had to do to enhance my skills.
“I had tried adding pace earlier but not in the right way. I went to the physio, he suggested some changes and all of it worked together
Ruturaj returned to the opener’s slot after walking in at No. 3 in the previous two games
The CSK captain’s unbeaten 108 contained a dozen fours and three sixes
batting at three in the previous two games, showcased his best on a twopaced surface.
All round the park
In the PowerPlay, the stylish right-hander put on a driving masterclass, collecting after the injury.”
While Kuldeep attributes India captain Rohit Sharma for “showing faith in me immediately after the injury break” he narrates how Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting and bowling coach Shane Watson helped him get his mojo back in Indian Premier League 2022, his rst season with Delhi Capitals.
While Rohit pushed him to concentrate on his Test batting earlier in the season, Kuldeep jokingly revealed Rohit’s advice to him just before the IPL.
“All he told me was to take it slightly easy and not stretch myself too much,” says Kuldeep, with a glitter in his eyes and the condence of doing well in the T20 World Cup. six boundaries, two each against Mohsin Khan, Ravi Bishnoi and Matt Henry. It had the full range of backfoot punch, cover drives and square drives.
And towards the end, the 26-year-old unleashed his big-hitting capabilities with pulls and powerful lofted shots down the ground.
Asked to take rst strike, the home team lost Ajinkya Rahane in the rst over, caught behind o Henry, while Daryl Mitchell struggled to nd his timing.
At the other end, Ruturaj made batting look easy with his silken touch, relying on timing rather than power as the host scored 49 for two in the rst six.
Jadeja, who came ahead of Dube, was not at his uent best, struggling to get the big shots going. It wasn’t until Dube walked in that the runs owed easily as he went on a rampage against the LSG pacers.
After lofting
Marcus
Stoinis for a maximum over long-on, Dube stepped up the heat when he smacked Yash Thakur for a hat-trick of sixes, two over mid-wicket and one over long-on in the 16er.
Ruturaj, too, caught the six-hitting bug when he pulled Stoinis and Moshin over the leg-side fence to move into the 90s.
Then, in the 18th over, the skipper lofted Thakur over long-on before nding a boundary over mid-o to get to his century in style.