Rajinikanth and Ruturaj Gaikwad© Twitter
Over the last few seasons, Ruturaj Gaikwad has emerged as a top performer for the MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings. In the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 he is currently among the top run-scorers having scored two half-centuries in four matches. However, he could not score big on Wednesday against Rajasthan Royals and fell for 8 in a home match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. During the course of the match, India Spin Great Harbhajan Singh drew parallels between Superstar actor Rajinikanth and Gaikwad. And the similarities were uncanny.
“Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rajinikanth sir. They share the same surname. Both are Maharashtrians and both are popular in Chennai,” Harbhajan Singh said while commentating on the CSK vs RR match on Wednesday.
Rajinikanth’s original name is Shivaji Rao Gaikwad and his ancestors hailed from Maharashtra.
As for the match, RR opener Jos Buttler wasn’t exactly devastating in his approach but yet managed the 18th half-century of his IPL career as Rajasthan Royals posted a decent 175 for 8 against Chennai Super Kings.
While Royals were 135 for 4 after 15 overs, the last five overs wasn’t as productive as they would have expected with only 40 runs being added and four wickets lost in the process.
Ravindra Jadeja (2/21 in 4 overs) was as usual menacing on a surface that assisted the spinners even as Buttler hit three huge sixes in his 36-ball-52. He had a good 77-run second wicket stand with Devdutt Padikkal (38 off 26 balls), who after his struggles against Punjab Kings, was back in his element.
Towards the end, Shimron Hetmyer (30 off 18 balls) was ever impressive as a finisher while Tushar Deshpande (2/37) gave only eight runs in the 20th over.
With PTI inputs
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