As the entire Indian contingent spent 7 days in quarantine upon its arrival in the UAE, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) unit had to remain indoors for a longer period after Ruturaj Gaikwad and Deepak Chahar, along with a few other members from CSK contingent, had tested positive for COVID-19. Gaikwad, who served an isolation time for 22 days, was given an important piece of advice from skipper MS Dhoni to survive that painful time.
CSK finished the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 season with three consecutive wins after enduring a testing time for the most part of the campaign. One man who was central to the dramatic turn in their fortunes during the last phase of the league stage was Gaikwad.
“I have lost track of the number of shows I have watched on Netflix. Narcos is my favourite. I think I might have watched it at least 3 times.” On a video call during the quarantine period, Ruturaj was given a piece of simple yet effective advice from Dhoni. “Face it with a smile, it will be over in 14 days”, the Super Kings captain told the batsman.
Gaikwad wasn’t included in the team straight away upon completion of the quarantine period but made the squad a few games later against Rajasthan Royals. The start, however, was a dreadful one as he scored 0, 5 and 0 in his first three games.
“I was really excited to get the call-up. But I was still tentative and not 100% physically and mentally,” Ruturaj said on the early days in the playing XI.
