Ruturaj Gaikwad shatters MS Dhoni's record, becomes first CSK captain to score IPL century

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Ruturaj Gaikwad scripted a massive piece of history on Tuesday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai as he became the first-ever captain of the Chennai Super Kings to score a century in the history of Indian Premier League (IPL). He notched the triple-figure mark during CSK's IPL 2024 match against Lucknow Super Giants at home, en route to which he even shattered MS Dhoni's five-year-long record in the tournament.

On the special evening at Chepauk, who celebrated the 17th anniversary of the first-ever IPL game at the venue, Gaikwad played an innings which was a connoisseur’s delight. The hosts lost Ajinkya Rahane, who was caught superbly by stumper KL Rahul off Matt Henry, early in the match but Gaikwad stayed calm and composed to carve out a classical knock of timing the ball through the gaps for fours. And that was epitomised by the first fifty runs he scored in the match, which had no fours at all despite maintaining a strike-rate of above 180 during that phase.

Gaikwad played a significant role in constructing useful partnerships with his teammates as he laced 45 runs with Daryl Mitchell, who replaced an out-of-touch Rachin Ravindra, and 52 alongside Ravindra Jadeja (17). However, the pressure shifted off his shoulders completely when Shivam Dube walked in.

The left-hander went hammer and tongs against the LSG attack, blasting sixes as will, with the aggressive approach rubbing a bit on Gaikwad, who reached 99 with a six off Yash Thakur over long-on before smashing a boundary through extra cover to get to his century. It was his second IPL century in his career and first in India.

IPL 2024, CSK vs LSG IPL Live Score

With the knock, Gaikwad became the first CSK captain to score a ton in IPL, as he surpassed the previous highest score of 84 by Dhoni in the 2019 season. Gaikwad also joined Shane Watson and Murali Vijay to become the CSK batters with most tons in IPL.

Gaikwad's eventual score of an unbeaten 108 is now the joint sixth-highest individual score by an IPL captain with KL Rahul's 132* for Kings XI Punjab in 2020 still leading the list.

Gaikwad and Dube's century partnership in just 46 balls helped CSK set a target of 211 against LSG.