Gaikwad talks about batting in unfamiliar Number.4 spot after getting his maiden ODI hundred in Raipur yesterday.
Ruturaj Gaikwad: ‘I was pretty much confident’ of batting at No. 4.
Ruturaj Gaikwad says he was “fairly confident” of adjusting to the No. 4 spot despite having never played there beforehand in 50-over cricket. Before the South Africa series, Gaikwad had played 86 times in List A cricket but never below No. 3.
He opened the series with 8 off 14 balls in Ranchi before smashing 105 off 83 balls in the second ODI in Raipur, which he felt was “definitely” his finest century across forms and levels.
“[The team management] told me that I would be batting at No. 4 this series,” Gaikwad said after the match. “I feel it’s a privilege to have that kind of confidence from the management towards an opener. So I took it that way.
“In the one-day format, even when I was opening the innings, I always tried to make sure that whenever I was set, I was able to bat till the 45th over and capitalise after that. So I knew somewhat how to play between overs 11 to 40, how to rotate strike, what the boundary options were. So I was pretty much confident about how I could go through [the innings].
“It was just a matter of how I could play my first 10-15 balls and after that, the process remains the same. I have been working really hard, and obviously been in good touch as well. So I wanted to make sure that whenever I am set, I make it a big one.”