Chennai Super Kings batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad has signed a multi-year partnership deal with leading sports marketing firm Baseline Ventures. The deal will see Baseline managing all the commercial interests of Gaikwad.
The 23-year-old top-order batsman made his debut for Maharashtra in first-class cricket during the 2016-2017 season. Since then, the top-order batsman has scored six centuries and four half-centuries in his first-class career.
Chennai Super Kings bought the young batsman in 2019 for Rs 20 lakhs. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get opportunities in 2019. His 2020 campaign also started on a sour note as he was tested positive for coronavirus at the start of the tournament. Gaikwad got opportunities at the end of the tournament. The youngster notched 204 runs in six matches at a healthy average of 51.00, became the first uncapped Indian to score three consecutive fifties in the IPL.
While speaking about the partnership, Ruturaj said, “Baseline represents some of the biggest athletes from our country and therefore I am very excited to be represented by them. They are one of the best sports marketing companies in India and have helped many young talents move forward in the right direction and build their careers. I look forward to a fantastic partnership with them.”
Baseline Ventures Managing Director Tuhin Mishra, said, “Ruturaj is one of the most promising young batsmen in India, an opinion shared by so many greats of world cricket and Indian cricket legends. His performance in IPL 2020 completely showed his class with a record of three back to back 50+ scores which has never happened in the history of IPL with an uncapped Indian player. It’s an honor for us to manage him going forward and we hope it’s a great association.”
Founded in 2014, Baseline Ventures also manages other top athletes such as PV Sindhu and Srikanth Kidambi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prithvi Shaw, Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues, and Amit Panghal.