Chennai Super Kings were far from being impressive in the thirteenth edition of the Indian Premier League. For the first time in their venture, they failed to make it to the playoffs. The three-time IPL champions performed so worse that they stayed at the bottom of the points table even after many games.

However, they rose to the occasion in the last few fixtures of the group stage and it is because of their resilience in the end, they were able to jump a position up and finished 7th in the points table. They lost more games than the number of games won. CSK managed to win just 6 wins from 14 fixtures.

CSK who struggled throughout the season secured only 3 wins from 11 fixtures. However, they ended the game on a good note by winning the last three games. The one who helped them secure those three games was Ruturaj Gaikwad.

The Maharashtra batsman was quite impressive by scoring half-centuries in all three games. However, in his first three games, he scored just 5 runs including two ducks but he delivered the goods in the last three games with a hat-trick of centuries.

Ruturaj Gaikwad talks about his turnaround

In a Q&A session on photo and video blogging platform, Instagram, Ruturaj Gaikwad was asked about he overcame his early failure in the tournament. He said good and supportive environment in the CSK dressing room was one of the main reasons behind his turnaround.

“A lot matters on team atmosphere and how all the members in the team react to your failures…And I think CSK is one of the best in that and having everyone calm and cool minded around helped me focus more on my process..!” Gaikwad wrote in response.

Previously in an interview with Sportstar, Gaikwad disclosed how a chat with Dhoni helped him regain his concentration. The young opener opened up on how CSK skipper had himself walked up to him and motivated him to perform well.

“Dhoni walked up to me and asked me if I was under pressure. He said, ‘We don’t want to pressurise you, but we have expectations from you. All I want to tell you is you are going to play the next three games without any doubt, whether you score a run or not. Try and enjoy these games and not think about performance,” Gaikwad recalled.