Ruturaj Gaikwad - India - Batsman

A free-stroking opener whose game revolves around a fluid technique, Ruturaj Gaikwad first burst into the scene during the 2016-17 Vijay Hazare Trophy when he ended as the third highest run-scorer in the tournament. His ability to be solid and play risk-free cricket, and yet score at a fair clip caught attention immediately. Right from his childhood days, Ruturaj was a prodigy who was tipped to make it big. He rose through the age group system of the Maharashtra team, and consistently made it to the India A side as well.

As of now, his success rate has been much higher in List A, where he is consistent and also makes his runs at a healthy strike-rate. However, given his temperament and technique, Ruturaj should be able to better his already reasonable returns in First-class cricket. His batting revolves around deft touches and timing, than the modern day powerhitting module that you see with most young batsmen. He got picked up by Chennai Super Kings in the 2019 IPL season and made a huge impact in the 2021 season when he made 635 runs as CSK won the title. His attacking knocks at the top were a major reason for his team's success. 2021 followed his debut season where CSK gave him games after failing to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in their history.

Gaikwad soon made his T20I and ODI debut for India as well carrying on from his IPL success. After a fine season in 2021, Gaikwad was retained by CSK for INR 6 crore ahead of the 2022 season.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan