Ever since his triumph at the Asian Games 2022, Ruturaj Gaikwas has been on cloud nine while batting for the Indian Cricket team. And an example of the same was on display yet again in the third T20I between India and Australia here in Guwahati.
In the latest CSK player News, Ruturaj Gaikwad played a magnificent 123* run inning of just 57 balls to help the Indian team post a total of 222 in their 20 overs.
However, the highlight of his inning was the shot against Aron Hardie that Gaikwad swept over the deep backward square leg to get into his 90s in the game.
Ruturaj Gaikwad sweeps Aron Hardie over square leg
Ruturaj had already smacked 2 sixes in the over, and both of them had come from a line that was within his hitting zone. Hence, Hardie decided to go wide outside off-stump just to change things up.
But the form that Gaikwad was in it just made things easy. The CSK opener walked across his crease and went down on one knee to just sweep it over the square-leg region to deposit it into the crowd.
This shot got the internet buzzing as it reminded them of another shot that Ruturaj had played against the very best of the Indian cricket team.
In the previous edition of IPL, Gaikwad had given the same treatment to Jasprit Bumrah over the square leg boundary. And the shot against Hardie was uncannily similar to that.
Here is the video of the same, as posted on the social media.
Ruturaj Gaikwad smashed a total of 13 fours and 7 sixes in his inning. He had opened the inning with Jaiswal and witnessed the onslaught by the Australian bowlers, who reduced India to 24 for 2 in 2.3 overs.
He built the inning with captain Suryakumar Yadav, who departed in the 11th over. From there onward, the baton of scoring was passed on to Gaikwad, who smashed it in all parts of the ground to bring up his century and a massive score for his team.
Maxwell Takes Australia over the line
Sadly, Indian bowlers were also unable to defend the massive total. Courtesy to a scintillating century scored by none other than the “Big Show” Glenn Maxwell.
He smashed 104 runs in just 48 balls to help his team chase down the total in the final ball of the inning. He smashed 15 out of the 21 runs his team required in the game’s final over.
It was a nail-biting finish for both the teams. With this victory, Australia is still alive in this series, and it will be interesting to see how it unfolds in the upcoming games.
