Former India batter Virender Sehwag heaped praise on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) star Ruturaj Gaikwad after his 92-run knock against Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL) opener on Friday. Gaikwad dazzled with 92 off just 50 balls, hitting four boundaries and nine sixes took CSK to 178 for 7 in 20 overs. However, his knock went in vain as GT chased down the total with four balls to spare. Sehwag, during a recent interaction, said that watching Gaikwad bat reminded him of Virat Kohli.
"I often use these words for Virat Kohli, but the way he batted today, it was a real joy to my eyes. That's the way he batted. No one was able to connect shots (for CSK) in that innings, everyone was getting out early, but he continued with his strong shots. He scored more sixes than fours in his innings! And that's when he doesn't have a reputation of scoring sixes," Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
After the match, Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya said the way Gaikwad was batting on Friday, it was getting difficult to bowl at him.
"Obviously, we all know what kind of a player he (Gaikwad) is. It looked like at one time CSK would score 220-230. We were finding it difficult on what area we should bowl at him. I had genuinely felt that we would not get him out at all," Hardik said.
"He is all-round cricketer, some of the shots he played were not bad balls, actually good balls and that makes a lot of difference. As a bowling unit and as a captain, that made my job more difficult," he added.
(With PTI Inputs)