"Rinku Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal Are Far Ahead" - Ruturaj Gaikwad Opens Up On India's Six-Hitting Competition

Indian batter Ruturaj Gaikwad opened up about the team dynamics during the recently concluded T20I series against Australia. He revealed that they had a six-hitting competition within the team and Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rinku Singh were the winners of that.

India had a stellar outing in the T20I series against Australia. They sealed the series by the margin of 4-1 and Ruturaj Gaikwad was one of the star performers for the team. He set the stage on fire and played some breathtaking knocks in the series.

Ruturaj Gaikwad ended the series as the leading run-getter with 223 runs to his name. He bagged a diamond duck in the first game but after that, he didn’t look back. He smashed a valiant half-century in the second before producing a magical innings in the third game. The batter smashed a sensational ton and became the first Indian batter to hit a T20I century against Australia.

Meanwhile, Ruturaj Gaikwad admitted that they didn’t have much practice ahead of the 1st game against South Africa. But mentioned that they had fun during the Australia series. Speaking to Star Sports, he explained:

“There was a six-hitting competition between some of the players during the five-match T20I series against Australia. We didn’t have much to practice before the 1st T20I against South Africa, however, we had some before the series opener against Australia. We had fun and enjoyed hitting sixes during the practice, so obviously, I would say Rinku and Yashasvi are far ahead of all the others.”

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rinku Singh were also impressive in the series against Australia. While Jaiswal gave the team solid starts and batted with a strike rate of 168.29 Rinku finished innings on high and batted with a strike rate of 175.

IND vs SA: Yashasvi is the kind of player who doesn’t hold back – Ruturaj Gaikwad

Ruturaj Gaikwad further talked about his opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal, saying that the left-hander is the kind of player who likes to take bowlers on. He added that it’s important for him to hold the one end when his partner is going great guns. He elaborated:

“Mostly, he is the one who goes for the attacking shots from Ball 1. Yashasvi is the kind of player who doesn’t hold back. I just have to figure out a few risks, and play according to what the team requires. Definitely, when someone like Yashasvi is going hard at the other end, it’s obviously crucial for me to hold the other end and let him express the way he wants to. I enjoy batting with him.”

Both Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal will be crucial for India in the T20I series against South Africa. The first game between the two teams was washed out due to rain.