Ruturaj Gaikwad (c) of Chennai Superkings celebrating his Hundred during match 39 of the Indian Premier League season 17 (IPL 2024) between Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants held at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on the 23rd April 2024. (FILE)
Former Chennai Super Kings player Subramaniam Badrinath blasted the Indian cricket team’s criteria for the selection of players for the national side. The reaction from the 43-year-old came after current CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad was omitted from India’s squad for the white-ball series against Sri Lanka.
“Sometimes it seems like you need a bad guy image when the likes of Rinku Singh, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and others are not selected for the Indian team. It seems that you need to be in a relationship with some Bollywood actresses, have a good media manager, and have body tattoos,” Badrinath said on his YouTube channel, Cric Debate with Badri.
While Rinku has had a mediocre 2024 IPL season Gaikwad had a purple patch with the bat for CSK scoring 583 runs at an average of 53 and a strike rate of 141.16. The 27-year-old in the recently concluded series against Zimbabwe too churned out runs scoring 133 runs from three innings at an average of 66.60 and strike rate of 158.33.
Gaikwad: Anchoring versatility
Gaikwad’s run-scoring traits resemble Gill (Who is vice-captain for the upcoming Sri Lanka tour) as both batters are intrinsic anchors in their respective IPL teams. Gaikwad, however, exhibited a different range when he batted at no. 3 and 4 for India in successive matches against Zimbabwe.
Matching the Gill of Ahmedabad, Gaikwad enjoys a solid record at his IPL home base in Chennai. Gaikwad has scored 706 runs in 15 innings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium since 2023, averaging 58.83 while striking at 139.80 for a century and five fifties. But unlike Gill, Ruturaj’s scoring has not depreciated away from Chepauk – amassing 1209 runs in 31 innings with a wholesome 155 strike rate.
India T20I squad for Sri Lanka tour: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Ꮪhubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohd. Siraj
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