IND vs SA: Dale Steyn Impressed By Promising 24-Year-Old India Star, 'Similar To How KL Rahul Bats'

In the third T20I against South Africa, India finally came together as a team, with their batsmen and bowlers working in sync to keep them in the series. After failing to defend a record target in the first match, the hosts were held to a score of less than 150 in the second T20I. 

Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad’s 97-run opening partnership was significant in India’s ultimate score of 179/5. Gaikwad was the more aggressive of the two, scoring 57 runs off 35 balls. It was his first international half-century, and it helped him end a trend of poor performances in his brief career. 

Gaikwad’s efforts with the Chennai Super Kings have earned him tremendous praise. In the IPL’s 2021 season, he earned the Orange Cap, becoming the first uncapped player to finish a season as the leading run-scorer. 

Ruturaj Gaikwad Has Looked Really Good In Last Two Years: Dale Steyn

“He has looked really good in the last two years. He was Chennai’s highest run scorer the year before. He is a quality player,” said South African fast bowling great Dale Steyn on ESPNCricinfo.  

In IPL 2022, Steyn was the bowling coach for the SunRisers Hyderabad, and he had a front-row view of Gaikwad in action as he hammered 99 off 57 balls against them last month.

“When you open the batting in the IPL, you generally come up against the best bowlers in the world. It could be (Kagiso) Rabada or Lockie Ferguson, throw all the names in the hat, and Ruturaj Gaikwad is up for it. Tonight he looked really good. A little bit of luck here and there but you create your own luck,” said Steyn.  

“He looks in control, no worries when it comes to pace, no issues with spin and he reads the game really well.

What India did well tonight was that they attacked the early part of the over, often got a boundary and put South Africa under pressure and very often scored a boundary off the last ball and finished the over very well. That was led by Gaikwad.”

Dale Steyn Indicates Ruturaj Gaikwad Is Similar To KL Rahul

Gaikwad, according to Steyn, is similar to KL Rahul in that he does not appear to be a particularly aggressive hitter. 

“The thing that stands out is that he doesn’t look like an aggressive player. He kind of looks in a similar vein in which KL Rahul bats. He stands very still, non-threatening. I loved bowling to batters like that.

I felt that these guys are not going to take me down. It was the guys that moved around and showed they were aggressive that I was a little more fearful of. But then you bowl a half-decent ball and it goes for four. You bowl your best ball and that goes for four.

A bad ball also goes for four and now you are under a lot of pressure. That is the kind of player Gaikwad is, he does hit your good ball for four too. Something that Nortje could have changed tonight is that he could have run,” he said. 

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