PUNE: Maharashtra captain Ruturaj Gaikwad said every member of the team was disappointed after they failed to make it to the knockouts of the Vijay Hazare Trophy one-dayers on Tuesday.
“I think it (not qualifying) was harsh on us,” Ruturaj, 24, told TOI from Rajkot on Wednesday. “We won four out of five games. In some other groups, teams who have lost two games out of five (Himachal, Vidarbha, TN, Karnataka) have also made it to the next stage.”
Ruturaj has no reason to be unhappy with his own form after scoring 603 runs in five innings with four hundreds. By blending explosiveness and maturity, he seems to have married consistency too. And that means the national selectors will have to take note of his performance with Maharashtra this season and his Orange Cap exploits with Chennai Super Kings in IPL before they pick the team for the ODI series in South Africa which starts on January 19.
On the secret of his recent success as a batsman, Ruturaj said, “No secret. I’m just focusing on my process and not thinking much, just trying to replicate the things again and again!”
On his feat of scoring four tons in five one-dayers, he said, “It feels amazing. But it would have been nice if we as a team, we would’ve gone through. Personally, it’s a good achievement and I’m proud of myself and my team.”
Asked if the team’s destiny was in their own hands in terms of capitalizing the opportunity against Kerala and boosting net run-rate during a win over Uttarakhand, Ruturaj said, “These things happen in cricket. The Kerala seventh wicket pair batted too well. We have to give credit to the opposition too. We tried our best to break the partnership.
“We were aware about the possibility of net run rate coming into the equation. Hence we chose to field first against Uttarakhand. But sadly, it was difficult to score runs quickly on that pitch. The wicket changed its behaviour a bit in the second half too. Sometimes you need a little bit of luck too which proved elusive for us.”
Ruturaj is proud about the start to his captaincy. Under him, Maharashtra won four out of five games in both Mushtaq Ali T20s and Hazare one-dayers.
“I think it (not qualifying) was harsh on us,” Ruturaj, 24, told TOI from Rajkot on Wednesday. “We won four out of five games. In some other groups, teams who have lost two games out of five (Himachal, Vidarbha, TN, Karnataka) have also made it to the next stage.”
Ruturaj has no reason to be unhappy with his own form after scoring 603 runs in five innings with four hundreds. By blending explosiveness and maturity, he seems to have married consistency too. And that means the national selectors will have to take note of his performance with Maharashtra this season and his Orange Cap exploits with Chennai Super Kings in IPL before they pick the team for the ODI series in South Africa which starts on January 19.
On the secret of his recent success as a batsman, Ruturaj said, “No secret. I’m just focusing on my process and not thinking much, just trying to replicate the things again and again!”
On his feat of scoring four tons in five one-dayers, he said, “It feels amazing. But it would have been nice if we as a team, we would’ve gone through. Personally, it’s a good achievement and I’m proud of myself and my team.”
Asked if the team’s destiny was in their own hands in terms of capitalizing the opportunity against Kerala and boosting net run-rate during a win over Uttarakhand, Ruturaj said, “These things happen in cricket. The Kerala seventh wicket pair batted too well. We have to give credit to the opposition too. We tried our best to break the partnership.
“We were aware about the possibility of net run rate coming into the equation. Hence we chose to field first against Uttarakhand. But sadly, it was difficult to score runs quickly on that pitch. The wicket changed its behaviour a bit in the second half too. Sometimes you need a little bit of luck too which proved elusive for us.”
Ruturaj is proud about the start to his captaincy. Under him, Maharashtra won four out of five games in both Mushtaq Ali T20s and Hazare one-dayers.