Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad was on the receiving end of the BCCI selectors (on Saturday, 28 September) when they picked the Indian squad for the upcoming T20 series against Bangladesh. However, it has emerged that he could very well be drafted into the Indian Test team to face Australia. In this regard, a report published in the Times of India on Tuesday stated that Gaikwad has been included for selection in the squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the 2024-25 season as a third opening batter, despite the fact that he is yet to play any Test cricket for India.
This India tour of Australia is slated for later this year and will consist of five Test matches, the first of which is set to be played in Perth from November 22. It’s understood that the Pink Ball Day Night Test will be hosted in Adelaide while the remaining three Tests are scheduled to be played in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney.
As per the report, since the team management and selectors have a plan of using Gaikwad as the third opener, he was not considered for the Bangladesh T20Is. This is also why he has been requested to keep playing red-ball cricket and was appointed as the Rest of India captain for the match against Mumbai currently being held in Lucknow for the Irani Cup 2024.
“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 in the Irani Cup,” a reliable source told TOI.
Gaikwad, having taken over the reins from Dhoni as the CSK skipper this year, got his first Test call-up for the India west indies series which was held in July 2023 in the two match series. However, he did not feature in any of the two games.
Having not played for India since the T20I series against Zimbabwe in July 2024, Gaikwad has thus far amassed 2273 runs in 32 first class matches. After Irani Cup 2024, he will play Ranji Trophy for Maharashtra. The right-hand batsman has been named the captain of Maharashtra for the upcoming season of the state’s premier tournament which will commence on October 11.
