Ruturaj Gaikwad (PC:X)
Shamik Chakrabarty in Guwahati
Two vacancies, three contenders. With Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer out injured, India’s ODI squad needs a couple of replacements. The side is likely to be picked today and Rishabh Pant is expected to return to the 50-over fold after missing the series in Australia. For the other spot, it’s a two-way race between Tilak Varma and Ruturaj Gaikwad, RevSportz understands.
RevSportz already reported that Gill, the ODI skipper, will miss the three-match series against South Africa, starting on November 30, as he is recovering from a neck injury, that ruled him out of the ongoing second Test in Guwahati as well. Pant was recuperating from a foot fracture he suffered at Old Trafford in the summer, when India toured Down Under for three one-dayers last month. The southpaw was in the Champions Trophy squad earlier this year, but with KL Rahul being the team’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman in this format, he didn’t get a game.
He will return to the side as a specialist batsman. And as this website has reported, the 28-year-old is a stop-gap captaincy contender also, along with Rahul and Axar Patel.
RevSportz also broke the story that Shreyas, India’s ODI vice-captain, would be out of competitive cricket for two months after suffering an internal injury in Australia. Tilak has already cemented his place in the T20I squad and according to Ajit Agarkar, the chief selector, he was on the verge of making it to the ODI side for the Australia series. “Tilak’s very close. Again, we have taken a 15-man squad,” Agarkar had said at the team selection press conference before the Australia tour.
Going by the current form though, the left-hander didn’t score many in the List A games against South Africa A, while Ruturaj is in scintillating form, fresh from a century and a half-century in that three-match ‘A’ series.
Tilak’s last ODI was in December 2023. Ruturaj, too, last played for India in this format in December that year. According to sources, the latter is considered to be a dark horse.
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