Former Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar believes this Ruturaj Gaikwad The right-handed batsman, who is expected to open for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) during the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season, said his best performances have come while batting at the top of the order.
The five-time champions dropped Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran and included Sanju Samson in their squad from Rajasthan Royals. Samson is India's opening batsman in T20I cricket and won the Player of the Tournament award in the recently concluded T20 World Cup. However, Bangar said that while Samson should bat at No. 3, Ayush Mhatre should open the batting along with CSK captain Gaikwad.
In the middle order, Bangar chose Dewald Brevis at No. 4, and Shivam Dubey or Karthik Sharma at No. 5. Dubey played some explosive innings for India in the T20 World Cup. Meanwhile, Karthik Sharma is an explosive wicketkeeper who was signed by CSK for Rs 14 crore in the IPL 2026 mini-auction.
“Ruturaj Gaikwad should bat at the top of the order only. Last year, he tried to separate Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad so that the entire cream is not at the top. However, that thought process did not give him success. Ruturaj Gaikwad has played his best cricket at the top of the order,” the former India all-rounder said during a discussion on Star Sports.
He said, “He plays very well there and Ayush Mhatre plays with him. I see Sanju Samson playing at No. 3. Dewald Brevis will play at No. 4. At No. 5, either Shivam Dubey or Karthik Sharma can come. As far as adopting new approaches is concerned, I think this team has a lot of strength in the batting department.”
Rahul Chahar may get to play all the matches: Bangar
Bangar believes that CSK's newly appointed leg spinner Rahul Chahar will get a chance to play all the matches in the upcoming season.
He said, “There has been another change in the thought process of CSK. They have never used Indian leg spinners much. Here, Rahul Chahar may get to play all the matches. So two wrist spinners, a left-arm wrist spinner and Rahul Chahar from the other end. Rahul Chahar has great variety, and he can also come down the order and play some big shots.”
While CSK has a strong spin-bowling attack, Bangar said the Men in Yellow also have some formidable fast bowlers in their line-up.
“It also looks like a good bowling unit, where you have two proper overseas fast bowlers who are specialist in the innings. Matt Henry bowls well with the new ball and Nathan Ellis bowls well in the death overs. Khaleel Ahmed provides the left-arm angle. So you see a strong bowling unit. If Prashant Veer plays, you will have three proper spinners and three proper fast bowlers,” Bangar explained.
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