Credit: X
Ruturaj Gaikwad was one of the major omissions in the Indian ODI and T20I squads for the Sri Lanka tour, announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday, July 18. The right-handed batter has been quite exceptional for India in his limited appearances in the T20I format, but he got left out in favour of Riyan Parag, who just began his international career earlier this month.
In his T20I career, Ruturaj Gaikwad has played 23 matches in the last three years, scoring 633 runs at an average of 39.56 and a strike rate of 143.53, including a hundred and four fifties. The 27-year-old also captained India to their first gold medal in men’s cricket competition in the T20I format at the Asian Games 2022 last year.
But despite the consistent performances in the T20I format Ruturaj Gaikwad, which includes a fifty in the recently concluded series in Zimbabwe, has been left out of the squad for the upcoming tour to Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, Riyan Parag, who made his international debut earlier this month in Zimbabwe, played three T20Is for India, scoring 24 runs in two innings at a strike rate of less than 100, but still, he got picked by the Indian selectors.
Netizens react after Gaikwad misses out on Sri Lanka tour in favour of Riyan Parag
Here are some of the fan reaction on X on Ruturaj Gaikwad’s omission and Riyan Parag’s inclusion in the Indian T20I and ODI squads against Sri Lanka:
