Ahead of their season opener, Ruturaj Gaikwad was channeling a bit of Imran Khan when speaking to the CSK YouTube channel, calling the players “wounded lions”.
“This year, I think we are a bunch of wounded lions. Finishing rock bottom last year, definitely we all are wounded. A lion’s silent breath is more dangerous than its roar. So definitely something we are looking forward to: having a great season. But at the same time, it’s a long process, it’s a long tournament, we really have to make sure we get our rotines right, make sure everyone is ready, make sure we feel everyone is connected, to this team, to this franchise, to this city, to the fans, and give them the best.”
He also explained how Prashant Veer is the option they’ve picked to replace Ravindra Jadeja. There’s Karthik Sharma, whom CSK bought for INR 14.2 crores, who also got the x-factor tag from Ruturaj.
“Jaddu was a big hole to fill. But if we see the options that we had, we had very limited resource there. Prashant Veer was right up there, we thought that he had that x-factor. He can hit huge sixes and can give that left-arm spin as well. That is something we had to get this auction. We wanted someone along with Shivam, right-hand batter who can take the game on in the middle phase. Either you need good strike rotation or you need that smartness we had in Ambati Rayudu where ha was absolutely brilliant. He knew what to do, he read the situation really well. Especially playing at Chennai, you always need such a player. But it’s really hard to get or replicate that.
“We thought if we have a combination of right and left, where we have two players of playing spin really well. As to dominating spin really well, that would give us more advantag going into the game. That’s something we lacked last year. That’s where Karthik Sharma came in with, whatever I’ve seen in the last five days, I think he’s worth what he’s got. It comes down to how he reacts and faces that presssure. But he’s definitely got that x-factor.”
