Ruturaj Gaikwad hit seven sixes in one over
In a November 2022 quarter-final for Maharashtra against Uttar Pradesh, Ruturaj Gaikwad did something no batter had managed in any form of cricket: seven sixes in a single over, thanks to a no-ball. When the tournament reached its final, he added another century to claim the tournament's all-time hundreds record.
Gaikwad was born in Pune on 31 January 1997 to a Marathi family; his father worked for India's Defence Research and Development Organisation and his mother is a schoolteacher, and both encouraged his cricket. He joined the Dilip Vengsarkar academy at 13. As an under-19 player he piled up runs, including 875 in 11 innings at an average of 97.22 while captaining Maharashtra in the Cooch Behar Trophy.
His first-class debut came on 6 October 2016. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the century in the 2022 final was his 12th in the competition, taking him past Robin Uthappa and Ankit Bawne, and he later made Maharashtra's fastest List A hundred, in 57 balls. Chennai Super Kings signed him in December 2018; in 2021 he scored his first IPL century and took the Orange Cap with 635 runs as the team won its fourth title, and he was part of the 2023 triumph too.
International cricket followed. He debuted in T20Is against Sri Lanka in July 2021 and in ODIs in October 2022. In November 2023 his unbeaten 127 against Australia was the first T20I century by an Indian against that opponent. He captained India to gold at the 2022 Asian Games, the first Indian men's captain to win a medal there.
When MS Dhoni stepped down on 21 March 2024, Gaikwad took over the Super Kings captaincy and made 583 runs that season, though the team narrowly missed the playoffs on net run rate. An elbow injury cut short his 2025 season, but he returned to score his maiden ODI century against South Africa that November.
Source: Ruturaj Gaikwad
