Ruturaj Gaikwad was left off of the squad for the South Africa T20Is and the Border-Gavaskar series, former India cricketer K Srikkanth blasted the way the team administration handled him. Ruturaj Gaikwad who is now rated third among Indian batters in T20Is, behind Suryakumar Yadav and Yashasvi Jaiswal, was just selected as skipper of the India A team touring Australia.
Given Rohit Sharma’s possible unavailability in the first instalment of the series, Ruturaj Gaikwad was hailed as a potential backup opener for the Border-Gavaskar series, a position that may have resulted in a debut. He started the Ranji season on a strong note after a comparatively successful Duleep Trophy campaign, leading Maharashtra with fifty and a hundred in his opening two games.
Ruturaj Gaikwad has done enough- K Srikkanth
K Srikkanth was seen speaking on his You Tube channel and was quite stunned that how Ruturaj Gaikwad wasn’t selected for BGT 2024-25. He also pointed out that Ruturaj has scored tons of runs in domestic circuit but still he was overlooked.
“See, for Ruturaj Gaikwad, I don’t understand at all. Poor fellow! What will he do? If he scores a century, then they can take him back into the T20I squad, right? He scored two first-class centuries but still didn’t get a chance. He got scores to back him up. Where should that guy be going now?” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
Due to his preparation for the Border-Gavaskar series, Ruturaj Gaikwad did not play in the T20I series against Bangladesh either. After a strong T20I series against Zimbabwe, the opening batsman shot up into the top 10 batters in the international rankings.
“When it comes to international cricket, you leave him behind” – Kris Srikkanth on selection inconsistency when it comes to Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Ruturaj Gaikwad has had difficulty establishing himself in the national team, and his performances in white-ball matches have been inconsistent thus far. The Border Gavaskar was hailed as the opener’s debut in red-ball cricket because of his recent performance and overall reliability over the previous two years.
But even though he was appointed captain of India A and had accumulated runs, Abhimanyu Easwaran took his place in the starting lineup.
“Abhimanyu Easwaran’s performance has been brilliant. I’m not questioning that. But what are you doing with Ruturaj? Why aren’t they twirling around with him? What’s the plan? Let them do what they want with him. Just look at the mindset of that kid and tell me what he should be doing in this match against you guys. He keeps on hitting the opponents all day long, but then, when it comes to international cricket, you leave him behind. And when they give him a chance, it’s for the Rest of India or India A,” Srikkanth said in the same video.
The Border-Gavaskar series is scheduled to begin on November 22, while the Twenty20 International series between South Africa and India will begin on November 8.