Ruturaj Gaikwad is likely to travel to Australia as a replacement opener for Yashasvi Jaiswal. Many had pointed out how baffling Gaikwad’s exclusion was from India’s squad for the Bangladesh T20I series. With neither Jaiswal nor Shubman Gill named, it was expected that Gaikwad would be picked as India’s second opener alongside Abhishek Sharma, who’d impressed everyone in Zimbabwe.
Ruturaj Gaikwad’s IND vs BAN exclusion, planned
But Gaikwad wasn’t included. Instead, he found himself being named as the Rest of India’s captain in the Irani Cup 2024 against Mumbai. As it turns out, this wasn’t a snub but intentional. The Indian management wants Gaikwad to keep playing red-ball cricket until the India vs Australia Test series.
They want to take the batter from Maharashtra to Australia as India’s 3rd opener. If, for some reason, one of Jaiswal or captain Rohit Sharma isn’t available, head coach Gautam Gambhir wants him to take their place.
“There has been a lot of hue and cry after Gaikwad wasn’t picked for the T20Is against Bangladesh despite regular T20I openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill being rested. The selectors and team management want him as the third opener in Australia. You need a third opener there, as injuries could take place during a long five-Test series. There aren’t too many good candidates for the third openers’ slot than Gaikwad. He needs to keep playing red-ball matches. This is why he has been asked to lead ROI (Rest of India) in the Irani Cup,” a source told the Times of India.
Gaikwad’s rise
Gaikwad has risen through the ranks of late. He was named Chennai Super Kings captain in March, then Maharashtra’s captain for the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 in July, and has since been named captain in the Duleep Trophy and now Irani Cup. The Indian management clearly sees something in him and wants to see him in Test cricket.
