Ruturaj Gaikwad’s 2025 IPL season was cut short after just five matches, when he was forced out due to an elbow injury. With the batter ruled out, Chennai Super Kings’ captaincy duties went back to M.S. Dhoni.
Gaikwad watched from home as CSK had a poor campaign, becoming the first team to be eliminated from the tournament.
Gaikwad describes the nature of the injury — struck on the elbow when facing a pacer — as a “fluke”. “There are some things which you cannot control. I had some good family time during the layoff. I enjoyed my time at home,” Gaikwad said here on Thursday.
The 28-year-old is taking full control of his comeback graph, which began with a century in the Buchi Babu Invitational tournament a couple of weeks ago. On Thursday, Gaikwad made a successful return to First Class cricket, striking a brilliant 184 for West Zone against Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy semifinal at the BCCI COE Ground (2).
Gaikwad stated that he has been working on his red ball game and easing into full match fitness. He is happy to bat at number four in the longer format, as opposed to his preferred opening spot in white-ball cricket.
“When I first joined the Maharashtra team, there was only one spot available. Whenever there were two proper openers playing, I batted at three. And now I feel really comfortable in the middle order,” Gaikwad said.
Published on Sep 04, 2025
