'Need bad-boy image, should be in relationship with 2-3 actresses' - Ruturaj Gaikwad receives bizarre advice after being dropped

Former India batsman S Badrinath has taken a savage dig at selectors over the squads announced for Team India's upcoming tour of Sri Lanka.

The Men in Blue are scheduled to play three ODIs and as many T20Is in Sri Lanka. The series will get underway later this month. Both the squads were announced by the BCCI earlier this week. While a number of changes were expected in the squads, it is safe to say that the selectors still managed to spring a number of surprises.

One of their decisions that has not gone down well with many is the exclusion of Ruturaj Gaikwad from the T20I team. The right-handed batsman was a part of the squad for the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe earlier this month and performed well too.

The Maharashtra star scored 133 runs in 3 innings, including knocks of 49* and 77. Before the series against Zimbabwe, Ruturaj Gaikwad had impressed with the bat in the IPL as well. Leading Chennai Super Kings, he finished the tournament as the second-highest run-scorer, scoring 583 runs with the help of a century and 4 half-centuries.

S Badrinath slams selectors:

Even though Ruturaj Gaikwad has performed well in the T20s, the selectors decided to ignore him for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka. And the decision has not gone down well with S Badrinath.

In a video that is doing the rounds on social media, the former Tamil Nadu stalwart took a dig at the selectors, saying that the players can achieve big things in Indian cricket only if they maintain a bad-boy image and manage to stay in the news.

"When I see players like Ruturaj, Rinku missing out I feel like players need a bad boy image. You either should be in a relationship with 2-3 actresses or get tattoos or you should always be in the news or get a good PR manager, only then you'll go high in Indian cricket," said Badrinath.

"When I see players like Ruturaj, Rinku missing out I feel like players need a bad boy image.. You either should be in a relationship with 2-3 actresses or get tattoos or you should always be in the news or get a good PR manager, only then you'll go high in indian cricket" https://t.co/wm1F63MOy4

— arfan (@Im__Arfan) July 20, 2024

Badrinath's reference about Rinku Singh was for the T20 World Cup snub. Even though the southpaw had done extremely well in T20s including in international cricket, he could not find a spot in the World Cup squad.

Meanwhile, the three-match T20I series between India and Sri Lanka is scheduled to get underway on July 27. After the T20Is, the ODIs will get underway on August 2.