Our performance of the week for week five of IPL 2022 has to go to the reigning orange cap winner Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has had a poor start to the season for CSK but finally came to the party for the Men in Yellow against SRH at Pune.
View this post on Instagram
After scoring just one half-century in the opening eight games of the season, Gaikwad showed glimpses of his form from 2021 as he smashed an unbelievable 99 off 57 balls against SRH. Gaikwad shared a season-high opening partnership of 182 with Kiwi left-hander Devon Conway to give CSK their third win of the campaign, and with this incredible innings, the opener also became the fastest batter to score a 1000 runs in the IPL (equalling Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 31 innings).
On his home ground in Pune, Gaikwad played some gorgeous strokes against the pacers and spinners to give CSK an excellent start to the innings, but nothing could match the jaw-dropping lofted cover drive he hit for six against Umran Malik over long-off at the death. With Gaikwad and Conway finally finding form at the back end of the season, CSK are a much more dangerous batting unit due to their depth, and if the two openers can continue on this trajectory, the four-time champions could even have an outside chance of qualifying for the playoffs if they win their remaining five matches.
[Featured Image Credit: ANI]
Shivaan Shah