Fans React After Ruturaj Gaikwad Was Ignored In 3rd ODI vs Zimbabwe: The Zimbabwe ODI series was a great chance for India to test their bench strength. They did that in the bowling department. However, the batters could have been rotated more, especially considering that this series will perhaps be the last opportunity to see the fringe players because of tougher assignments coming up.
One among those fringe players is Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has been consigned to the bench for the last couple of months now. And will return home from Zimbabwe without any game time.
Should India have given Ruturaj Gaikwad his ODI debut?
Gaikwad was not included in the third ODI vs Zimbabwe either even though India had already won the series and fans thought the likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill could have been rested from the third match. Fans were even upset that Ishan Kishan has been given a longer rope despite his recent failures while Gaikwad, who boasts of terrific List-A and IPL numbers, didn’t get an opportunity.
Ruturaj Gaikwad’s last international match was against Ireland in a T20I where due to an on-field injury while fielding first he couldn’t come out to bat. He has since been dropped from the eleven as the team hasn’t tried him further, making it clear that the likes of Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson and Shubman Gill are ahead of him in the pecking order in both the white-ball formats.
It still is a surprise that in spite of Gaikwad’s scintillating List-A numbers – an average of 54 and strike rate of 100 in 64 matches; 11 centuries and 16 fifties – the right-hander has not played a single ODI match for India.
KL Rahul, the stand-in skipper for the tour, opened the batting alongside Dhawan in the second and third ODI vs Zimbabwe with Gill, Kishan, Samson, and Hooda to follow. Kishan has been failing continuously in recent international matches: 6, 11, 8, 16, 3, 26, 15, and 27 are his latest scores for India, but the young left-hander has been given a long backing by the management.
Here are some of the upset fan reactions on Ruturaj Gaikwad’s exclusion today:
We
already won the series
— சம்பத் எனும் நான் (@sampathevrurbro) August 22, 2022
already won the series
Against 
then why not chances given to Rahul Tripathi, Ruturaj Gaikwad & prasidh Krishna Benched ruturaj and tripathi in Ireland I think.
Ishan anyway not playing Asia Cup
So tripathi or gaikwad Any one could have made debut Today.— 𝐌𝐄_𝐓𝐇𝐄𓃵 (@yaruyenugothila) August 22, 2022
Jab tumh khilana he purane playero ko h toh kyu squad m rkhte ho Rahul tripathi Ruturaj Gaikwad ko …. Are zimbawe ke khilaf khel rhe ho england ke khilaf nhi…. Naye logo ko moka do sikho pakistan s kuch … #IndvsZim #INDvPAK #AsiaCup2022 #Bcci #ICC
— Rahul Arora (@Rahulwinner17) August 22, 2022
Why you selected Rahul tripathi shawaz and gaikwad if you r not giving chances to them when u already won the series shame on you selectors
— Ahtesham_numberdar (@Ahteshamnumber1) August 22, 2022
Still no odi caps for gaikwad and tripathi
— Darsh Patel (@darsh_patel462) August 22, 2022
Rahul Tripathi and Ruturaj Gaikwad should have been given chance in 3rd ODI.@klrahul u r so boring
— Tamshuk Dutt (@iamTamshuk) August 22, 2022
My Changes
Shikar Dhawan-Ruturaj Gaikwad
Ishan Kishan-Rahul Tripathi
Axer Patel-Shahbaz Ahmed
Kuldeep Yadav-Md Siraj— Poosa Naveen Kumar (@naveenpoosa04) August 22, 2022
Unlucky Guy
— Kunvar shailendra Yadav (@Kunvarshailend3) August 22, 2022
R Gaikwad ,R.Tripathi & S.Ahmed !
12 now. Ruturaj Gaikwad being made to wait for debut in ODIs, similar to Ajinkya Rahane in Tests (16 Tests).#ZIMvIND #INDvZIM #ZIMvsIND #INDvsZIM #RuturajGaikwad https://t.co/hMsWejAlQ8
— Ajinkya Dhamdhere (@ajinkyasd) August 22, 2022
No R.Gaikwad , R.Tripathi & S.Ahmed !!!!!
Against Zimbabwe— Kunvar shailendra Yadav (@Kunvarshailend3) August 22, 2022
Ruturaj Gaikwad ,Rahul Tripathi ,Sahbaz Ahmed kya wha match dekhne gye h kya ?
— Kunvar shailendra Yadav (@Kunvarshailend3) August 22, 2022
KL Rahul once again won the toss and elected to bat first.
Teams:
Zimbabwe (Playing XI): Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Innocent Kaia, Regis Chakabva(w/c), Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams, Ryan Burl, Tony Munyonga, Luke Jongwe, Brad Evans, Victor Nyauchi, Richard Ngarava
India (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul(c), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Sanju Samson(w), Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Yadav, Avesh Khan
