For Ruturaj Gaikwad And CSK’s Own Good, They Need To Get Out Of Dhoni’s Shadows

Last year, during Indian Premier League 2024, a funny incident occurred.

In the clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Ruturaj Gaikwad, on the verge of a second IPL hundred in the same season, got out for 98. In came MS Dhoni, who smashed five off two balls. 

The public consensus in and around the stadium was that Dhoni’s two-ball effort was better than Gaikwad’s 98. While you and I might not agree with one per cent of the above comment, that is the public perception that Gaikwad and CSK have to eliminate, and it sums up exactly why CSK and Gaikwad need to come out of Dhoni's shadows.

However, it is easier said than done. Getting out of Dhoni's shadows is probably the most difficult task in CSK. A bonafide CSK legend like Ravindra Jadeja failed to do so. But Dhoni is 43, and time might be his worst enemy, whereas Gaikwad in IPL 2025 might become a defining face of CSK, the franchise.

But there’s an ulterior motive beyond this: Gaikwad’s career. 

Till last year, none of this worry surfaced, perhaps more to do with the presence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the T20I scheme of things. Now they are gone, and the newer stars like Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson definitely have a strong hold on that opening position. 

Even if you look away from them, there’s Indian cricket’s favourite child, Shubman Gill, waiting in the wings. The daunting presence of Yashasvi Jaiswal, too, doesn’t make Gaikwad’s case any better. 

You see the problem, right? 

Hence, whatever Gaikwad does in IPL 2025 will become a career-defining moment. 

Scoring runs, though, isn’t the only criteria anymore. The goalpost has shifted so much that now Gaikwad has to score not just runs but more impactful runs, starting with the powerplay.

Over the last two IPL seasons (since 2023), the CSK batter has indeed the best average amongst all the five aforementioned openers. However, the problem isn’t about runs; it is about whether he’s created as significant an impact as the others. That’s where the 28-year-old has lacked. 

Amongst all the openers mentioned, Gaikwad has the worst balls/boundary ratio (4.6), which means the more time he’s spending at the crease for CSK, the lesser the impact, at least in the powerplay overs. Only 21.6% of his runs come in boundaries during the powerplay, the lowest among the openers in this category.

Even his first ten-ball strike rate is just 127.4, in an already evolved T20 format, where people have a strike rate of 150s in their first 10 balls. For a franchise like CSK, it might not have harmed them too much, considering how weak their middle order was in the 2024 season, especially with Ajinkya Rahane’s abysmal form.

But Gaikwad isn’t battling to be CSK’s top batter; his battles will be much more intense this season. The worrying part is that he isn’t even improving in the middle overs, which makes it all the more difficult for him to prove a point. 

During the middle overs phase (7-15), where other openers have improved upon their strike rate or just gone marginally down, Gaikwad has seen a significant low. From 144.3 in the powerplay, his strike rate goes down to 141.2 in the middle overs.

Yet again, his inability to find boundaries with great consistency (6.8 BPB) is the lowest for any of the batters above.  

When you microscopically examine last season (2024), those dwindling returns — SR of 133.5 combined with BPB of 7.9 — amplified. There’s the worry: Gaikwad didn’t get any better as the season progressed, and when the push came to shove, he failed on a batting beauty at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, with qualification on the line. 

Perception is built around innings like that. You might have been the team’s highest run-scorer and the league’s second-highest run-scorer, but the fact remains that if you feel like you are in the biggest of games, it is easy to point the fingers. You can’t blame the selectors because games like this are going to be a game-changing factor.

Gaikwad will enter IPL 2025 on the back of a year of experience as a captain. It can’t be set up any better for Gaikwad, with the stakes now becoming double-fold. All that he will have to do is shed the anchor tag and get out of MS Dhoni’s shadows. Pretty easy? 

However daunting it is, whatever it takes, Gaikwad’s own career will be defined by this moment in the future.