IND vs AFG: Ruturaj Gaikwad Ruled Out Of Afghanistan T20Is; To Miss England Tests Initially - Reports

After Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya, young Indian batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad has also been ruled out from the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, as reported by ESPNcricinfo. Ruturaj faced a finger injury during the South African tour and since then has been out of the cricketing action. Gaikwad is also expected to miss the first half of the England Test series.

The selection committee will be sitting on Sunday, January 7, 2024, to discuss the squad for the upcoming T20I series against Afghanistan. There is no confirmation about Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma joining the Indian team for the series as they have not played the shortest international format since the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final.

Ruturaj Gaikwad ruled out of Afghanistan T20Is

Ruturaj Gaikwad was also ruled out of the Test series against South Africa and if he misses the T20I series against Afghanistan, then he will make a comeback directly in the IPL 2024. After Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya were reported to be excluded from India’s T20I squad against Afghanistan, Gaikwad could have been a captaincy option if the senior players had been rested. However, with Ruturaj Gaikwad reported to miss the series, KL Rahul might lead the Indian team.

Ruturaj Gaikwad was not able to do much with the bat during the ODI series against South Africa and only scored 5 and 4 runs in the first two ODIs of the series. However, after Gaikwad faced a finger injury he was replaced by Rajat Patidar in the third ODI match.

Ruturaj Gaikwad has been one of those players that BCCI have been investing on from a long time and he is in their future plans. Gaikwad is one of those who is more of a technique batsman and relies mostly on grounded shots.

Ruturaj Gaikwad came into limelight due to his magnificent for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2020 and since then has been an ace batsman for the yellow franchise. If Gaikwad turns fit, he might also play for India in the upcoming T20 World Cup.

However, ahead of the Indian Premier League, Ruturaj Gaikwad is expected to return to the team in the Test series against India, where India can try him out as an opener.

India created history in South Africa as they displayed their best performance in a Test series in the last 14 years. India levelled the series 1-1 and won their first ever Test match at the Sahara Park Newlands in Cape Town. India also levelled the T20I series against the Proteas whereas they won the ODI series by 2-1.

India have not an ICC title from the last 10 years and now when they will play their first match of the 2024 T20 World Cup against Ireland on June 5, 2024 they will aim to lift the trophy once again after 2007.

India were ruthless in the whole 2023 ODI World Cup and won ten out of ten games. However, it was just one bad day and they lost the final against Australia and fell short of their their ODI World Cup trophy.