Former India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has given his take on the chances of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson opening the batting for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2025. The Super Kings recently acquired the services of Samson into their ranks in a trade deal with Rajasthan Royals, while sending across Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran in a big pre-season move.
The expectation now is that he will open alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad for the five-time champions, and Ashwin said the thought of this opening duo is exciting because both batters bring different strengths to the crease. Ashwin furthered that Ruturaj may even be open to shifting down to No. 3 something he already does for Maharashtra making room for other talents but further complicating CSK’s selection puzzle.
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“There is pedigree with Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson. Pedigree means you making quality runs and sustaining that for a period of time. We must not forget that. For me, I would love to see both of them go hammer and tongs at the opening slot. Both of them have different strengths. One is a caresser of the ball, while the other guy hits it hard so both of those qualities are there. So I will look at it in that fashion that I have two good openers,” said Ashwin on his Youtube Channel.
“But the early signs are that Ruturaj wants to bat at number 3 because he’s also batting at no 3 for Maharashtra. Which begs the question where will Urvil Patel bat? CSK are looking at Andre Russell very hard. Let’s see who all are there in the auction. I still think Urvil Patel can play at no 4. But then if he comes at number 4 it becomes completely right handed. But Urvil takes on the powerplay. So if we open with Rutu and Sanju, Urvil can come in at number 3 but Ayush has scored runs. It’s a tricky question but we’ll see how they solve their top four conundrum?,” he added.
In the later stages of IPL 2024, CSK discovered bright young talents in Urvil Patel and Ayush Mhatre. Both have kept their form going in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, each scoring a century to make a strong case for top-order slots this season. The biggest headache CSK might experience will be to settle on their ideal batting order, considering all these form batsmen at their disposal.
