Ruturaj Gaikwad scored the first century of the second phase of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. Gaikwad’s is the fourth batter to score a century this season. Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) Jos Buttler (124), Sanju Samson (119) and Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) Devdutt Padikkal (101*) are the other three batters who have breached the three figures in the ongoing season.
Gaikwad reached his century off the last ball of the innings with a huge six off Mustafizur Rahman. He remained unbeaten for 101 runs from 60 deliveries laced with nine fours and five sixes. Brilliant acceleration
Gaikwad showed how to pace the innings and the unleash hell in the death overs. He reached his half-century in 43 deliveries in the 13th over of the innings. After reaching the 50-run mark, Gaikwad switched to fifth gear and scored the rest of 51 runs in just 17 deliveries at a strike rate of 300.
CSK record broken
Gaikwad broke the record of Murali Vijay to score the most runs in a season as CSK opener. Vijay had scored 441 runs for CSK opening the innings in 2009/10 season. The opener also became the youngest CSK batter to score a century in IPL. The previous record was also held by Vijay, who was a 26-year-old then.
Surpasses Tendulkar's record
Gaikwad has surpassed former Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar’s record of fastest to seven fifty-plus scores in IPL. The youngster took 18 innings to register seventh fifty-plus scores whereas Tendulkar took 26. He is followed by Gautam Gambhir, who reached the mark from 30 innings.
Orange Cap holder
During his century against the Royals, the 24-year-old became the first batsman this season to score more than 500 runs. The current orange cap holder is followed by Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper KL Rahul and Delhi Capitals’ (DC) Shikhar Dhawan.
