Ruturaj Gaikwad’s Century Struggles Extend to ODIs: A Unique Dilemma

Raipur:

India batter Ruturaj Gaikwad enjoyed a field day with the bat today as he notched up his maiden ODI century. He played exquisite strokes during his 105-run knock off just 83 balls with 12 fours and two sixes as India posted a mammoth total of 358 runs on the board. However, South Africa put up a brilliant show to register the joint-highest successful chase vs India in ODIs ever.

This is not the first time that Ruturaj’s century has ended in a losing cause. In fact, when it comes to top-flight cricket, Ruturaj’s ton has never come in a winning cause so far. It is an extremely unfortunate stat that even Gaikwad will be itching to get rid of but for now, this has happened a stunning four times.

Ruturaj’s maiden T20I century vs Australia came in a losing cause

Ruturaj Gaikwad smashed an unbeaten 123 off just 57 balls at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati to propel India to a massive total of 222 runs in their 20 overs. But Australia registered the highest ever run-chase was India in the shortest format to win the game by five wickets. His best knock in the format didn’t prove to be enough for Team India to win.

What about Chennai Super Kings?

Ruturaj Gaikwad’s century jinx has followed him in the Indian Premier League as well. He plays for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the cash-rich league and is now the captain of the team as well. He has smacked two tons for the five-time champions, in 2021 vs RR and in 2024 vs LSG, and both times CSK ended up losing the game.

He scored an unbeaten 101 against the Royals in 2021, propelling CSK to 189 runs only for the opposition to chase down the target with 15 deliveries in hand. As far as his century against Lucknow Super Giants in 2024 is concerned, Gaikwad scored an unbeaten 108 to take his team to 209 runs, only for Marcus Stoinis to smash 124 runs and take his team over the line in the last-over thriller.

It is still unclear if Ruturaj Gaikwad will be retained in the next ODI series, as Shreyas Iyer is expected to make a comeback for the matches against New Zealand next month. The 28-year-old will be hoping to end the jinx in the next ODI itself with another brilliant ton, which can also help him stake a claim for a place in the next series.

          </div>

function loadFacebookScript(){ !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n; n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,’https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’); fbq(‘init’, ‘529056027274737’); fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’); } window.addEventListener(‘load’, (event) => { setTimeout(function(){ loadFacebookScript(); }, 5000); });