Ruturaj Gaikwad’s hopes of getting an opportunity to play for India again have been given a big jolt as the opener has been ruled out of the upcoming T20I series against New Zealand due to a wrist injury.
The news came in on the eve of the first T20I in Ranchi. Gaikwad had complained of wrist pain and was told to travel to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for a prognosis of his injury and subsequent rehabilitation.
Cricbuzz said that Ruturaj Gaikwad reported to the BCCI about his injury after the Maharashtra’s previous Ranji game against Hyderabad, wherein Gaikwad scored 8 and 0. Incidentally, this is the second time Gaikwad has had trouble with his wrist. He missed last year’s T20I against Sri Lanka with a similar injury. He had also missed the home ODIs against West Indies last year upon testing positive for Covid.
“It is understood that the decision makers and the brains trust of the national team are upset over how often Gaikwad has missed assignments due to illness or injuries,” Cricbuzz said.
Ruturaj Gaikwad was not going to start the series anyway: Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan, the pair that had opened against Sri Lanka in T20Is, is set to open against New Zealand too. However, an injury to any of them could have paved the way for Gaikwad to play ahead of Prithvi Shaw, who is also in the squad and is recalled to the T20I setup after a year-and-half. Now, Shaw has a chance to make his T20I return in the XI.
Ruturaj Gaikwad last played a T20I for India back in June last year, against Ireland in Dublin.
Overall, Ruturaj Gaikwad’s record in T20is isn’t impressive: 9 T20Is, average of 16 and a strike rate of 123 with only one fifty.
Gaikwad has been in a bumper form in domestic cricke though: he smashed 4 centuries in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, including a double hundred; in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament, he averaged 59 at a strike rate of 146.
India’s updated T20I squad against New Zealand: Hardik Pandya (C), Suryakumar Yadav (vc), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Prithvi Shaw, Mukesh Kumar.
