Ruturaj Gaikwad was initially expected to be included as a backup opener.
The Indian selectors recently announced the squad for the upcoming five-match Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) in Down Under. While three uncapped players got a call-up in the likes of Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana and Abhimanyu Easwaran, the exclusion of dynamic batter Ruturaj Gaikwad raised eyebrows.
While Gaikwad has been handed the captaincy of the India A team that will travel to Australia and play two first-class matches against Australia A and a three-day intra-squad game against the senior Team India prior to the BGT, his name was a surprising miss from the main India roster.
Ruturaj Gaikwad was initially expected to be included as a backup opener for the marquee series after reports surfaced of India skipper Rohit Sharma likely to miss the beginning of the BGT.
Former India legend lashes out at Indian selectors over Ruturaj Gaikwad’s exclusion
Echoing on the same lines,former India legend Krishnamachari Srikkanth voiced his disappointment over the decision.
Srikkanth said in a video on his YouTube channel, “I don’t understand it at all. When they say that Mayank Yadav bowled for a few overs and now he has also become unfit like Shivam Dube and Riyan Parag. See, for Ruturaj, 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?”
Instead of Ruturaj, the Indian selectors chose to bring in Bengal batter Abhimanyu Easwaran, who has scored four centuries in his last four first-class games.
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