Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], December 3 : Ruturaj Gaikwad smashed his first ODI century in the second India vs South Africa match on Wednesday, reaching the landmark in just 77 deliveries.
After the hundred, Gaikwad said that he was gutted to have missed out on a big knock in the series opener. He also shared how batting with Virat Kohli is very helpful.
Gaikwad's hundred featured 12 fours and two sixes, helping India post a formidable total of 359-5 in 50 overs against the Proteas. Notably, he and Virat Kohli, who brought up his second successive ODI century, shared a crucial 195-run stand.
Speaking during the mid-innings break, Gaikwad said he was disappointed to miss out on the previous match, especially on a good batting wicket, but was relieved to make the most of the conditions this time.
"Last game I was really gutted to miss out on a knock. It was a really good wicket and the conditions were suited for me, could have easily scored a few runs. So really gutted last game and thankfully it came out really well today," Gaikwad said.
Gaikwad noted that the pitch was a bit two-paced for the first 15-20 overs but improved afterwards, allowing him to build his innings effectively.
"Today it was more suitable for me, I went out to bat around the 11th over, and I told myself to approach it as if I was already 25 or 30 balls in after powerplay and bat accordingly, look to rotate strike. Until 15-20 overs it was slightly two-paced but after that it got better and we worked on that," he added.
Gaikwad said that batting with Kohli is a dream experience and that their partnership was immensely valuable. He explained that Kohli guided him throughout the middle overs--advising on finding gaps, anticipating bowlers' lengths and adjusting his technique to reduce dot balls.
"(On batting with Kohli) Obviously a dream to bat with him and have a wonderful partnership. He helped me a lot throughout the middle about how to access gaps, what lengths the bowler might be bowling and how you can adjust your technique and score some runs by playing less dot balls. So definitely very helpful and good learning for me," said the right-hand batter.
Gaikwad said he and Virat focused on small, five-over targets to build their partnership and grew more confident once the ball stopped moving and came nicely onto the bat. At that point, he decided to trust his instincts. They eventually began aiming for a total around 350, which they successfully reached.
"We had set small targets and we just thought that you know 5 overs we have to achieve this, 5 overs we have to achieve this and once we felt that we were really comfortable in the middle and there came a phase where the ball wasn't doing much and it was coming really nicely to the bat and I just said that I will back my instincts whatever it is and you know let's see how it goes on. But definitely after a stage we were thinking about something around 350, thankfully we got that score," he said.
"Definitely good score but as we were here yesterday, I think there is a lot of dew, hopefully there will be less amount of dew tonight but definitely chasing 350-plus will be really tough," Gaikwad added.