- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,265,232
- Reaction score
- 59
You must be registered for see images attach
Should Ruturaj Gaikwad be selected in India's ODI team? Exploring CSK's captain's record in every batting position in One-day cricket originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Ruturaj Gaikwad scored an ODI hundred in December 2025 against South Africa, but was dropped again for Afghanistan.
- CSK captain responds with a century and 66 for India A in the Sri Lanka tri-series.
- His batting flexibility across four positions makes him an undeniable 2027 World Cup contender.
Should CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad be in India's ODI team?
Some players fight for their place in the team, and then there is Ruturaj Gaikwad. He keeps scoring centuries and keeps getting overlooked.
Yet somehow the fire keeps burning in his belly, and that refuses to let the frustration show in his batting.
Cut back to 2024, Gaikwad wore India's blue in the T20 format during the Zimbabwe tour in 2024, and after that, the door quietly shut.
Through the 2024-25 domestic season, Gaikwad batted with a persistence that bordered on an obsession for perfection.
In the Duleep Trophy brought 232 runs across six innings. The Ranji Trophy added another 330 across five. Over eight combined innings, he averaged 85.66 and totalled 514 runs. These were not numbers scratched together on flat pitches against weak attacks; these were statement-making innings that kept coming.
MORE: Will Hardik Pandya play vs Afghanistan in ODIs? Latest injury updates and what it means for India
The December 2025 South Africa series: A century, then silence
When Shubman Gill was ruled out of the December 2025 ODI series against South Africa with a neck injury, Gaikwad was brought in, not as an opener, which is his natural home, but at number four. The first match in Ranchi produced only eight runs, which the cynics filed away quickly. But Raipur told a different story.
Playing alongside the legend Virat Kohli, he built his innings brick by brick. He scored a century (105 runs), and during the course of his innings, he hit 12 fours and two sixes.
Riding on the back of strong domestic performances, Gaikwad thought that the Raipur century should turn the winds in his favour. It did not.
When the squad for the Afghanistan ODI series was announced, Gaikwad's name was absent. No real explanation, no obvious reason, just the familiar experience of being on the outside looking in, after having just scored a hundred the last time he was handed a chance.
That is the particular cruelty of Indian cricket's selection process: the queue is long, the spots are few, and even a century doesn't guarantee your seat at the table.
He wasn't even supposed to be part of the India A squad for the Sri Lanka tri-series. The original plan had Riyan Parag as vice-captain, but a hamstring injury ended those plans, and Gaikwad was called in as a replacement.
He walked into a role he hadn't prepared for, in a squad that had been built around Vaibahv Sooryavanshi and Parag, and promptly made the whole thing look effortless.
Ruturaj Gaikwad forces the selectors to take notice during SL tour
In the first match against Afghanistan A, India found themselves in trouble. Prabhsimran Singh was bounced out by Chamika in the fourth over. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who had started briskly with three boundaries, miscued a lofted drive and was caught at mid-off shortly after.
With both the openers gone, and the score barely past 16, India were looking for an anchor who would provide stability on a slow, turning Dambulla surface that was offering the spinners generous assistance.
Gaikwad came in at four and immediately took control. He found a willing ally in Priyansh Arya (32 off 32 balls) and the two steadied the innings through the powerplay. When Priyansh departed in the 13th over, Tilak Varma joined him, and the contrast between the two was glaring.
You must be registered for see images
The Mumbai Indians batter took his time to settle down and churned out a 97-ball 60 innings, which reflected the difficulty of the conditions but also a certain defensiveness that crept in. Gaikwad, on the same pitch, against the same bowling, never looked bogged down.
He stayed positive, found gaps, rotated strike, and when the ball sat up, he hit it cleanly. He finished with 101 off 114 balls, and it was more than just a century as chief selector Ajit Agarkar was at the ground, keeping an eye on the proceedings.
In the second match, against Afghanistan A, he built on that performance and scored another 66, to show that he can be trusted at No.4.
MORE: IND A vs SL A highlights: Gaikwad's century, clutch run-out help India A snatch victory
How has Ruturaj Gaikwad fared across batting positions in the ODI format?
| Batting Position | Inns | NO | 100s | 50s | Ducks | 4s | 6s | HS | Runs | Avg | S/R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1&2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 71 | 88 | 22.00 | 87.13 |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 27 | 13.50 | 48.21 |
| 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 105 | 113 | 56.50 | 116.49 |
| Overall | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 2 | 105 | 228 | 28.50 | 89.76 |
His ODI numbers across positions tell a story that is still being written. At the top of the order, four innings have returned 88 runs at 22, which is respectable but not explosive.
At three, a couple of short-run outings haven't left much of a mark. At four, the sample is small, but the century against South Africa has pushed the average to 57.
Beyond the ODI numbers, the bigger picture in List A cricket makes his case even more compelling. The century in Dambulla was his 21st in the format, scored in his 100th List A appearance.
He currently holds the highest batting average among active Indian players in List A cricket, which is another statistic that tends to get buried underneath the noise of IPL form and T20 conversations.
In his last five one-day innings across all List A cricket, he has scored three centuries and one half-century. The record speaks louder than words.
MORE: India squad for England tour 2026: Full T20I and ODI team lists
Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer hand stiff competition to Ruturaj Gaikwad
When Shubman Gill is back, Yashasvi Jaiswal will likely make way for the opener and skipper. Rohit Sharma should hold his place along with Gill, and hence, the opening slots are occupied.
Virat Kohli has made the No.3 spot his own and cannot be dislodged, given his form.
Gaikwad is fighting for the No.4 spot, but Shreyas Iyer is the newly-annointed vice-captain, and that position is non-negotiable again.
You must be registered for see images
(getty)
The fight for places is a luxury for selectors, but for Gaikwad, it means an excruciatingly painstaking wait on the sidelines.
And how can you forget Ishan Kishan? So, even when Kohli isn't part of the squad due to his hamstring injury, it is difficult for Gautam Gambhir to pick Gaikwad.
However, Gaikwad's flexibility works in his favour. He is a proven top-order batter who can open, bat at three, or take on the anchor role at four. His strongest position seems to be at No.4, and currently, he finds himself on the fringes, as the selectors have the luxury of a deep pool right now.
The 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa is roughly 16 months away. The squad will begin to take shape over the next few selection cycles. Agarkar watched from the stands in Dambulla as this batter walked in with his team reeling at 16 for 2 and produced one of the more composed innings of India A's tour.
This should be a massive morale booster for Gaikwad. The mantra is to keep scoring for Gaikwad. Exclusions have a shelf life, and his is certainly running out.
To keep up to date with all the latest cricket news and share your opinion on the biggest topics visit our Facebook, Instagram and X (Twitter) pages.
Continue reading...
