On Tuesday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, Ruturaj Gaikwad wrote a huge piece of history by becoming the first-ever skipper of the Chennai Super Kings to score a century in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL). On the way to breaking MS Dhoni’s five-year record in the competition, he reached the triple-figure mark during CSK’s home IPL 2024 encounter against Lucknow Super Giants.
Gaikwad produced an innings that was a connoisseur’s delight on the memorable evening at Chepauk, which commemorated the 17th anniversary of the first-ever IPL game played at the stadium. Early in the game, the hosts lost Ajinkya Rahane after he was brilliantly stumped by KL Rahul off Matt Henry, but Gaikwad maintained composure to produce a great knock by hitting the ball through the gaps for fours. And that was well encapsulated in the first fifty runs he scored in the game, which included zero fours even though he was hitting over 180 at that point.
In particular, Ruturaj Gaikwad was instrumental in forging productive partnerships with his teammates, scoring 45 runs with Daryl Mitchell (who took over for an injured Rachin Ravindra) and 52 with Ravindra Jadeja (17). But when Shivam Dube entered, all of the pressure entirely lifted off his shoulders.
The aggressive attitude hurt Gaikwad a little bit as he reached 99 with a six from Yash Thakur over far on and then smashed a boundary past extra cover to complete his century. The left-hander went all out against the LSG assault, hammering sixes as will. It was his first century in the Indian Premier League and his second overall.
THE CAPTAIN'S KNOCK OF RUTURAJ GAIKWAD. 🫡
108* (60) with 12 fours and 3 sixes – the first CSK captain in IPL history to smash a century. Rutu, the leader. 👌 pic.twitter.com/Z5At9atujV
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) April 23, 2024IPL 2024, CSK vs LSG IPL Score
With the hit, Ruturaj Gaikwad beat Dhoni’s previous best score of 84 from the 2019 season to become the first skipper of CSK to reach a century in the IPL. Along with Shane Watson and Murali Vijay, Gaikwad holds the record for most IPL tons scored by CSK hitters.
KL Rahul’s 132* for Kings XI Punjab in 2020 still tops the record, with Gaikwad’s final total of an undefeated 108 currently tying for sixth place among IPL captain individual scores.
With a century partnership in just 46 balls, Gaikwad and Dube enabled CSK to set a target of 211 against LSG.
