Abu Dhabi [UAE], October 3 (ANI): After striking his maiden century in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter Ruturaj Gaikwad has revealed that he is working on timing the ball and maintaining his shape.

Gaikwad’s unbeaten century went in vain as CSK suffered a defeat against Rajasthan Royals here at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Saturday. However, the right-handed CSK batter is now the Orange Cap holder in the ongoing season.

“It was a slow wicket at the start and slightly damp, as the game progressed it got better. It was important for one of the batters to stay till the 14th or 15th over. I didn’t manage to do it in the last few games thankfully it happened today. I am working on timing the ball really well and trying to maintain my shape. It has worked for me for many years. Right from when I started playing cricket, I have relied on timing,” Gaikwad told host broadcaster Star Sports at the post-match presentation.

“Against RR, I relied on timing and thankfully it is coming off. My selection in the CSK team in 2019 where I didn’t get a chance to play, being in the dressing room I got to learn a lot. I got to know some routines, I got to know what hard work to go through, it was a very good learning curve for me. That one thing really helped me a lot. It was a dream, started really slow, didn’t dream of getting a hundred, aim was to get to a total of maybe 160-170. I like it (Orange Cap) but I would have loved to be on the winning side,” he added.

Dube and Yashasvi Jaiswal played knocks of 64 and 50 as Rajasthan Royals chased down the total of 190 with seven wickets in hand and 15 balls to spare. Dube played a knock of 64 off just 42 balls with the help of 4 fours and 4 sixes.

Earlier, Ruturaj Gaikwad registered his maiden IPL ton to help CSK post a daunting total of 189/4 in the allotted twenty overs.

CSK will next square off against Delhi Capitals on Monday at the Dubai International Stadium. (ANI)