People come with a lot of expectations after a great IPL: Ruturaj Gaikwad

The top-order batter Ruturaj Gaikwad has been one of the finest players in the last few editions of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He emerged as the orange cap winner in the 2021 edition with 635 runs. 

Riding on a good form, he finally got a national call-up and made his T20I debut in July 2021 against Sri Lanka. However, he has limited opportunities in the Indian team setup due to the availability of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma at the top order. 

In 14 innings of the IPL 2022, Gaikwad smashed 368 runs at an average of 26.29, with a top score of 99. As a result, he was again named in the India squad for the 5-match T20I series against South Africa. 

KL Rahul's injury put him at the opening slot along with Ishan Kishan. In the first match, the 25-year-old scored 23 and followed it up with a score of 1 in the next game. 

In the 3rd game of the series at Visakhapatnam, Gaikwad played a terrific knock of 57 off 35 balls, propelling India to 179; India won the match by 48 runs. 

In the post-match conference, the talented opener reckoned that due to his good performances in the 2021 edition, people had pinned high hopes on him to maintain the same form in the international circuit. 

"Not really on the edge, it is just part and parcel of the sport," said Gaikwad. 

"Last year I had a really good year so people come with a lot of expectations when you have a great year even in IPL and domestic,"

He added that in this game of uncertainty, it is wise to stay in the right frame of mind and trust your process to perform well on the field. 

"So 3-4 games in IPL, I got out to good balls where in some dismissals, some good shots went to the fielder's hand, it is part of T20 cricket. "You will have off days and really bad days. It is a matter of staying consistent mentally, trusting your process," added Gaikwad. 

The youngster felt that the wickets at Delhi and Cuttack made it difficult to bat, which curtailed his flow, but added that the ball came on nicely at Vizag. 

"Coming into the series as well, the first two wickets I felt were on the tacky side. It was stopping a bit batting first in the last two games but here the wicket was good, the ball was coming into the bat, so I played my game. "I changed nothing, my thought process, everything was the same.

In the end, Gaikwad thinks the team stayed positive despite losing the first two games and awareness in the bowling unit helped them seal the victory in the 3rd T20I. 

"The conversation was about staying positive. We played really well in both the games. There were just some crunch moments where they played really well and overtook us,”

"Coming here, we just wanted to stick to what we did in the last two games and look to improve as a group. Bowling-wise, we were slightly more aware of the game, there was more awareness and that worked well for us." Gaikwad concluded.