He hit a magnificent century against the Central Zone.
After months of form and injury issues, Ruturaj Gaikwad has finally bounced back and shown his true class in the ongoing semifinal of the Duleep Trophy 2025. He hit a magnificent century against the Central Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru.
When he came to the crease, West Zone were reeling at 10/2 inside 3.1 overs, with Khaleel Ahmed wreaking havoc with the new ball early in the innings. The team had lost both openers – Yashasvi Jaiswal (4) and Harvik Desai (1) – in the space of 19 deliveries, and batting was arduous as Khaleel had his tail up.
However, Gaikwad showed immense composure while batting at No.4 and navigated early threats to form a prudent 82-run partnership with Aarya Desai for the third wicket. While Aarya departed after looking good, Gaikwad kept going and notched up a timely hundred to pull his team out of troubled waters.
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The wickets kept tumbling from the other end, as the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Shams Mulani couldn’t apply themselves on the crease, but the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter was compact. He didn’t go into the shell completely and hit boundaries at regular intervals to put the attack back on the opponent on his way to a quality ton.
At the moment, India don’t have a slot vacant at the top, with Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul sealing the opening positions. However, India have a vacancy at No.3, as they still look for Cheteshwar Pujara’s successor and have tried numerous options in home and away matches.
Sai Sudharsan was the latest one in this position, but he has yet to stamp his spot, and the No.3 slot still remains up for grabs. That’s where Gaikwad can come into the picture and audition for this role in the upcoming home season.
The good thing is that he has hit this century in the Duleep Trophy while batting in the middle order to show his utility outside the top spot. He has always been a solid red-ball player, as his average of 41.77 in First Class cricket shows.
The recent few months have been arduous for Gaikwad, as he has suffered injuries and had a long layoff, including missing the County Championship. Fortunately, he is back to scoring runs and hopes to keep piling on runs to push a case for the national selection again.
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