Asian Games 2023: 'The Dream Is To Win Gold Medal' - Ruturaj Gaikwad On Leading India

Indian batter Ruturaj Gaikwad opened up about being named as the skipper of the Indian side for the upcoming Asian Games 2023. He said that his only dream is to win a gold medal for India and sing the national anthem on the podium. 

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday (14th July) announced the squad for the Asian Games, which will be played in China from 23rd September to 8th October. For the first time, Indian Men’s team will take part in the competition and the governing body gave opportunities to all the youngsters. 

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Ruturaj Gaikwad was handed the responsibility to lead the side, which has the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dube, and others. With ICC World Cup 2023 slated to take place around the same dates, no senior was part of the team. 

Also Read: BCCI Announces 15-Member India Women’s Squad For The Asian Games 2023

Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has been one of the best youngsters in India, has been part of the senior Indian team for a while now and his experience surely would be handy for the team in the big tournament, which will take place in T20 format. He has scored truckloads of runs in the domestic circuit as well as the IPL. 

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Ruturaj Gaikwad said that it’s a great opportunity for him to captain the team in the big event. He added that it’ll be great fun because all his teammates are young players and they have been playing a lot of cricket together for India A and in IPL. Speaking in a video posted by BCCI, he said: 

“I am really thankful for this opportunity by the BCCI, management and the selectors. Playing for India itself is a really proud feeling and leading the side in such a big event, I think it will be a great opportunity for me personally and also for all the other team members who are alongside with me. Looking forward and really happy and feeling proud. 

I think it will be great fun to be honest because we are all youngsters and we have been really gelling around well with each other since last one year of the last two years, playing IPL, playing India A games and some Indian games.”

Also Read: Nitish Rana’s Wife Saachi Marwah Slams BCCI For Partiality Towards Her Husband After Snub From Asian Games Squad

“The Dream Would Be To Win The Gold Medal,” Ruturaj Gaikwad Wants To Sing National Anthem On Asian Games 2023 Podium 

Ruturaj Gaikwad promised that his side will play a brand of cricket, that everyone will be proud of. While highlighting the importance of the tournament, he remarked that he wants to sing the national anthem on the winning podium. Ruturaj Gaikwad elaborated: 

“I think it a really fun group to be part of and I think it will be really exciting for everyone to represent the country in the Asian games and obviously to win the meddle for the country is something that we always grew up watching on television seeing Athletes win it for country. So I think to get the opportunity to go out there and win the medal would be very very special. 

“As an Indian fan everyone has always been supporting throughout out whatever the country plays for any series or any World Cup but I think this is something special. We will play a brand of cricket where everyone back home will be proud and it will also be exciting to watch. The dream would be to win the gold medal and stand on the podium and sing the national anthem.” 

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A happy and proud @Ruutu1331 is excited to lead #TeamIndia at the #AsianGames ? pic.twitter.com/iPZfVU2XW8

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 15, 2023

India squad for the Asian Games: 

Ruturaj Gaikwad (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Shivam Mavi, Shivam Dube, Prabhsimran Singh (wk) 

Standby list of players: Yash Thakur, Sai Kishore, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Sai Sudarsan

Also Read: Aakash Chopra Picks His Indian Bowling Squad For Asian Games; Deepak Chahar And Ravi Bishnoi Were Included In The Squad

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