Opening or batting at No. 4, process remains same after a few hits: Gaikwad

Raipur, Dec 4 (PTI) A specialist opener in white-ball cricket, Ruturaj Gaikwad failed to click in his maiden outing at the coveted No. 4 spot but came good in his second match with a hundred here and he said he did not find it too difficult to adjust to his new role.

India have been served well by Shreyas Iyer in ODIs at No. 4 but with the Mumbai batter unavailable due to injury, the team management entrusted Gaikwad with the job to build the innings and he did it with aplomb, hitting his maiden century in the second ODI against South Africa on Wednesday.

“I feel it's a privilege to have that kind of confidence from the management towards an opener who can bat at No 4 as well. I took it that way,” Gaikwad told the media after India lost the high-scoring contest by four wickets.

“It was just matter of how I can play my first 10-15 balls and after that, the process remains the same,” he added.

The right-handed batter scored a quickfire 83-ball 105 in a 195-run third wicket stand with Virat Kohli (102) to help take India to 358 for 5.

For Gaikwad, it was imperative to channalise his experience of long hauls in 50-over cricket as he looked the perfect foil to Kohli during their 195-run stand, at times matching the batting great in strokes that he played and with immaculate running between wickets.

“In one-day format, even when I was opening, I have always tried to make sure I am able to bat till the 45th over and capitalise after that,” he said.

“Somehow, I knew how to play in between (overs) 11 to 40, how to rotate strike (and) what are the boundary options. I was pretty much confident about how I can go through." Injury lay-off during major tournaments like the IPL earlier this year, where he was replaced by MS Dhoni as Chennai Super Kings captain, and time away from the national side also gave the 28-year-old Gaikwad a lot of perspective about dealing with challenging situations off the field.

“It is better if you don't think too much about all these things because (if) you are not in the present and whatever matches are in front of you, you don't have that much focus and that much preparation. Obviously, in the last Vijay Hazare Trophy, I wasn't able to make that many runs,” he said.

“Some things were going on in my mind, but after that, this year I thought that whichever match it is, whether it is a club game or any red-ball (or) white-ball format I play, I will make sure to stay consistent.

“If I get an opportunity, (it's) well and good, even if I don't get an opportunity, it is still fine. I realise that it is my duty to keep scoring runs as much as possible and if things happen (again it's) well and good, if not, still well and good,” he added.

Gaikwad admitted his 83-ball 105, studded with 12 fours and two sixes, was so far the best knock of his career.

“I would say yes, because obviously batting at No. 4 was also a challenge for me,” he admitted.

Getting match-time with superstar Virat Kohli was something he may not have envisaged but Gaikwad kept his focus on the job of making runs, which he says is paramount.

“His (Kohli's) batting is unbelievable and the amount of time he has and (also) how he is able to convert it in the match as well,” he said.

“(But) I was trying to be in my zone and not really think about how he is batting or how he is able to score runs." He said his conversation with Kohli was about continuing the partnership, finding the gaps and rotating strikes.

“The chat in between was very clear. We had said (about scoring) 5-10 runs per over (is the) target and (also) how to manoeuver the (ball in the) gaps or how to hit those boundaries (and) how we can rotate strikes. We (also) had really good running between the wickets,” he said.

Gaikwad continued, “Nothing changes, whether I am captain of a state team, or (an) IPL team, or whether I am just a player. Even if I go and play domestic now, there is lot of expectation from me — even from my team — to not only score 100 or get those 50-60 runs but get those extra runs of what caliber I have.” PTI DDV PDS PDS