Why Ruturaj Gaikwad's Stubbornness To Bat At No 3 Will Cost CSK An IPL 2025 Playoff Place

Gaikwad's tactical blunder [Source: AP Photo]

Another Indian Premier League match and once again, Ruturaj Gaikwad came out to bat at number 3 against the Delhi Capitals. This season he has two fifty-plus scores to his name, but his stubbornness is likely to cost Chennai Super Kings a place in the playoffs of the league. Not many know, but skipper Gaikwad made a tactical blunder and here's what it is.

Why Gaikwad batting at number 3 is a blunder

For the majority of his IPL career, Gaikwad has batted at the opening spot and has excelled at the position. It was at this position where he performed brilliantly and helped CSK clinch two of their five IPL titles. Hence, moving down at number 3 was a degrade.

As the numbers suggests, he has played 60 innings in the IPL and almost 95% of his runs have come at that position. While he hasn't done too bad at number 3, but his impact is greater when he bats at the top and the stats says the same thing.

The dream partnership with Conway

During the 2023 season, Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad partnership was the key to CSK's title triumph. While he scored 590 runs at the opening slot at a strike-rate of 147, Conway complimented him with 672 runs, at a strike-rate of nearly 140. The two added 1,262 runs combined and this was the reason CSK should have kept Gaikwad at the top.

Conway and Gaikwad complimented each other really well and in the ongoing clash against DC, Gaikwad had a chance of forming the dream partnership again, but he once again decided to bat at 3 and flopped in the contest.

Rachin Ravindra is more of an anchor and that puts the pressure on Conway. Had Gaikwad opened with him, the duo would have complimented each other really well.

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