IND vs SA: Revealed - Why Is Ruturaj Gaikwad Not Playing Today's Match Against South Africa

India batter Ruturaj Gaikwad will be missing the series decider third ODI against South Africa. The game between the two teams will take place at Boland Park, Paarl, where Proteas won the toss and put the KL Rahul-led side into bat first.

India have made two changes to the XI as Rajat Patidar and Washington Sundar will be replacing Ruturaj Gaikwad and Kuldeep Yadav respectively. Gaikwad not playing the game raised quite a few eyebrows but the captain KL Rahul revealed why the batter would be missing the game.

KL Rahul mentioned that Ruturaj Gaikwad injured his finger ahead of the game and was deemed unfit to play.

KL Rahul at the toss while talking about the changes mentioned that it will be an opportunity for young players in the team to prove themselves. He also added that they have rested Kuldeep Yadav for the last game.

“Not really bothered by being asked to bat first. The wicket will be even for both innings and the lights come on pretty late here. We got ourselves to a good position in the previous game but ended up losing 5 wickets for 40 odd runs. Once we get a good start, we have to make it count.

Today is another opportunity for the boys to prove themselves. This looks like a much better wicket than the previous two, hopefully we can get plenty of runs on the board. Two changes – Rajat Patidar makes his ODI debut, Rutu misses out after doing some damage to his finger. Also, Kuldeep gets a rest and Yuzi Chahal comes in.”

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also released an official statement on Ruturaj Gaikwad, saying that the batter hasn’t recovered from the finger injury he suffered during the second game. The board stated:

“Ruturaj Gaikwad hasn’t fully recovered from the blow he sustained to his ring finger while fielding in the second ODI. He remains under the supervision of the BCCI Medical Team.”

Here is the Indian XI for the third ODI:

Rajat Patidar, Sai Sudharsan, Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul(w/c), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar

IND vs SA: Ruturaj Gaikwad Failed To Set Stage On Fire In First Two ODIs

Ruturaj Gaikwad didn’t have the greatest of South Africa tour. He didn’t feature in the T20Is as Shubman Gill was preferred over him. It was then expected that he would have most of the opportunity in the three-match ODI series against South Africa but it didn’t go his way as he failed in two games that he played.

In the first game, Ruturaj Gaikwad scored just 5 runs and then followed it up with a 4-run knock in the second match. It is fair to say that he didn’t live up to the expectations as better was expected of him. The series was a great opportunity for him as due to the traffic jam at the top, he doesn’t get many opportunities. He would now be hoping to turn things around in the next series the team plays.