Anubhav Katheria
India’s T20 squad for the Sri Lanka tour has been announced, this will be the first assignment for Gautam Gambhir as head coach. While Surya Kumar Yadav has been selected as the new Indian captain after Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from the format, Shubman Gill is given the position of Vice Captain.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Abhishek Sharma’s exclusion from the squad is a bit questionable where many fans and senior cricketers have shown their disappointment with the team selection and captaincy choices. Ruturaj and Abhishek both were part of the T20 squad against Zimbabwe in a 5-match series where they both performed well.
Harsha Bhogle on Rituraj’s selection said If you come out of nowhere and see Ruturaj batting in his last 3-4 matches and say if he doesn’t make it to the team this team will be from another planet. He is the next superstar he added.
Ruturaj scored 7, 77* and 49 in 3 innings, he didn’t get a chance to bat in 4 matches and was rested in the final game. On the other hand, Abhishek Sharma scored a century in just 47 balls but couldn’t leave any impact in other matches. While Abhishek Sharma lacks in experience so not selecting him can be justified but Ruturaj exclusion from the squad is debatable.
Ruturaj’s story with Indian team
After having a phenomenal IPL season with the bat Ruturaj couldn’t find his place in the T20 World Cup squad not even as a reserve player, Meanwhile Shubman Gill who had a poor season as a captain and as a batsman was selected as a reserve player. Over the years Ruturaj has been a consistent performer for the team, be it in Domestic cricket, IPL or in the Indian Jersey.
While many senior cricketers and cricketing experts have hailed Ruturaj’s batting techniques and his calm, composed nature while batting, Ruturaj isn’t getting many chances with the Indian team despite performing consistently well.
Not only Ruturaj but Sanju Samson is also another player that selectors have slept on. Sanju Samson got his name secured in the T20 squad after scoring a half century in the last game against Zimbabwe but couldn’t find his place in the ODI squad. Samson in his last ODI scored a century for India but got dropped.
Riyan Parag’s selection in both T20 and ODI squad over Ruturaj is a bit strange since his performance was poor in his previous matches.
Ruturaj or Gill?
Ruturaj vs Gill is currently a debate going on. Gill has been chosen as the vice-captain of the team in both the formats over players like KL Rahul and Rishabh pant. While many argue that selectors are looking for the future captain, many argue that this is the reason that Ruturaj has got a better record than Gill both as a Captain and as a player in the T20 format. Gill has a poor record as a captain and the responsibility of captaincy does sabotage his performance as a batter. On the other hand, this is not the case with Ruturaj Gaikwad.
