Chennai Super Kings batsman Faf du Plessis lauded Ruturaj Gaikwad and said he is a fantastic player who has got a bright future ahead of him. Opening with Du Plessis, Gaikwad played a knock of 33 of 25 balls studded with a six and four 4s. The South African himself smashed 50 off 41 balls. Ravindra Jadeja whacked 37 runs in the final over of CSK's innings and then came back to pick three wickets as MS Dhoni-led side thrashed RCB by 69 runs. The all-rounder smashed 62 runs in just 28 balls, with the help of five 6s and four 4s, as CSK scored 191 in their allotted 20 overs.
In reply, RCB managed to score 122/9 and suffered their first defeat of the ongoing IPL. "We have got such a long batting line-up but all you need is a start in any format you play. So, myself and Ruturaj enjoyed the partnership, we complement each other really well. He's a fantastic player, he has got a bright future ahead of him. Times the ball so beautifully," Du Plessis said in the virtual post-match press conference.
"It was really good. Obviously, Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) has been playing very well this season. His batting has improved a lot. He has become a very consistent performer with the bat for us. What happened in the last over was no fluke. Jaddu trains well. He hits a lot of sixes in practice. It was a huge momentum shift. Up until that point, it was a par score. We were on 160-165, but the great hitting towards the end made it probably a bit too much for the opposition on a slow wicket," he added. A three-for, a wicket-maiden, and a direct hit with the ball aided by Tahir's tight bowling helped CSK move to the top of the points table as they toppled RCB on Sunday.
Jadeja dismissed Sundar, Maxwell, de Villiers and ran Christian out as RCB was left gasping for breath. Imran Tahir too joined the party picking two wickets and resulting in a run out as RCB suffered a horrific collapse. "I have always thought playing against Jaddu that he's is the most dangerous fielder. When South Africa play against India, we always talk about being careful when running twos to Jadeja on the boundary because he has got an absolute cannon of an arm. He is diving around; he is stopping the balls.
He is really leading from the front in that department. To be so accurate in the 30-yard circle is a great skill to have. Not a lot of people can hit the stumps as consistently as he does. He's really enjoying his cricket at the moment. When a guy is oozing confidence like that, it is a great asset to have in your team," Du Plessis said.
When asked about his scoop shot, he said, "It's (scoop) the shot I really enjoy playing. I do practice it and I feel like I need a lot of balls into that area. Obviously, teams are smart and move around with it. But it's important to me that my game plan evolves so that I can score in different areas not just rely on one option."
"For me, my focus now moves onto the T20 cricket. I have decided to play as much T20 cricket as possible. Trying to play in few tournaments around the world. The 2023 ODI World Cup is a long way and obviously two years in a row of T20 cricket, I wanna make sure that I give myself the best opportunity. For now, IPL is the focus," he added.
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