Mumbai: Ruturaj Gaikwad played a scintillating knock of 69 runs from 40 deliveries in the game between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians and also etched his name in the history books during his stay at the crease.
He became the fastest Indian to score 2000 IPL runs displacing KL Rahul achieving the feat in 57 innings whereas the latter had made it to the milestone across a span of 60 innings. Overall, he is the third-quickest batter after Chris Gayle (48 and Shaun Marsh (52) to score 2000 IPL runs.
The 27-year-old has also become the sixth batter to rack up 2000 runs for the franchise. He joined the illustrious list of Suresh Raina (5,529), MS Dhoni (4,996), Faf du Plessis (2,932), Michael Hussey (2,213), and Murali Vijay (2,205). Gaikwad has scored runs at an average of 39 and a strike rate of 133 including 15 half-centuries and a ton.
Gaikwad has been playing a pivotal role for the franchise over the years and has been handed the reigns of the side by MS Dhoni this season. 2021 was the breakthrough season for the right-handed batter as he smashed 635 runs and won the orange cap for being the highest run-getter in the tournament. He compiled more than 500 runs in the 2023 season as well.
Notably, he has the joint-highest number of fifty-plus scores along with Faf du Plessis for the franchise (16). Also, he became the first batter to complete 2000 runs for CSK while opening the innings.
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